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ESIRA aims to improve the social inclusion of vulnerable groups in rural areas in eight countries in Europe. In Norway, partners Eastern Norway Research Institute at University of Inland Norwat and Inland County Municipality have chosen to focus on the inclusion of people with disabilities in the Kongsvinger region.
"One of the main activities this year has been the establishment of a MAP-group that will prepare and initiate measures for this target group," explains Bern. This Multi Actor Platform group contains representatives from the voluntary sector, business community, public sector, and some are experience experts or relatives of people with disabilities.
"They are a very engaged bunch and this seems contagious. There are constantly new people signing up who are interested in participating in ESIRA," says group coordinator and researcher Lisa Knatterud Wold.
This fall, they worked out an idea around the establishment of a super-accessible and open arena for, among other things, gaming and social interaction in the Kongsvinger area. This work continues in January, and then the idea for a more accessible outdoor life will be developed.
The group met one evening every other month at Science Park Kongsvinger. The goal is to develop and initiate 5 pilots throughout the entire ESIRA project period.
Research articles
Parallel to the work in the MAP-group, the researchers in the project are writing a peer-reviewed article on the territorial aspects of the exclusion of people with disabilities in rural areas in Norway.
A research report on social economy and social exclusion in Norway in general and in the Kongsvinger region in particular is being finalized these days. It will be published, along with the other country reports from the entire consortium, on ESIRA's website in early March.
Networking
In addition to the work on both the research articles and in the MAP-group progressing steadily, ESIRA has received some attention recently.
The project was presented at a Norwegian national conference on public health in November, by one of the politicians in the MAP-group.
In addition, almost 200 participants at the Industry Forum conference in November learned more about ESIRA through a brief introduction from the stage and a stand during the breaks. Here, both the project group and the development group made many relevant contacts with the business community in Inland county.
Recently, ESIRA participated in a large breakfast meeting in the Kongsvinger region. Here, ESIRA was one of 16 projects presented, with 100 attendees. The project received significant attention, connected with other relevant project owners in the region, and successfully recruited several new members to the development group.
International network
ESIRA is united in a consortium with fifteen partners from eight countries: Spain, Hungary, Serbia, Poland, Lithuania, Italy, France, and Norway. In January, the group met each other in Burgos, Spain for a kick-off. The first consortium meeting after the start-up was in October in Budapest.
In May 2025, we invite our partners to a consortium meeting in Kongsvinger, then we expect about 40 guests from all over Europe. "We are looking forward to showing the area we are researching and hope to get good help from many local patriots from the MAP-group," says Bern.