Icevi Europe has chosen Italy as the venue for its 10th Conference in Europe and has asked the Robert Hollman Foundation to organize the event in Padua May 15-17, 2025.
The international event under the patronage of the Veneto Region, the Municipality and University of Padua, the Padua Hospital Authority and Ulss6 Euganea, will be hosted in the most prestigious institutional and historical venues in the City of the Saint: the Aula Magna of Palazzo del Bo, the Rossini Room of Caffè Pedrocchi, the Anziani and Paladin rooms of Palazzo Moroni, the Paduan University Center and the San Gaetano Cultural Center.
More than three hundred professionals will gather from all over the European continent and beyond to discuss around the theme “Comprehensive support for children and youth with visual impairment: what can we do? What can be done?” with the aim of offering, through a multidisciplinary approach, cultural support useful in promoting the quality of life of children, youth and young people with visual impairment and their inclusion in school and society.
Scientific contributions at the Icevi Conference will provide an opportunity to share and circulate experiences related to caring for people with visual impairments within important areas of interest: medical-psychological, educational-educational, habilitative-rehabilitation, autonomy and mobility.
In the run-up to the International Conference, hundreds of European professionals and conveners are involved in these months in a co-participatory process in order to identify the essential theoretical principles of a comprehensive approach underlying the practical accompaniment to children and young adults with visual impairment.
The ultimate goal will be the drafting of a document that will be shared during the conference on its closing day; it will then also be made available as an operational tool to all professionals involved in the care and support of children and youth with visual impairments and their families.
The Conference is aimed at all people who believe in the multidisciplinary approach to supporting visually impaired and blind children and youth: teachers of all school levels, educators, psychologists, rehabilitation specialists, orthoptists, optometrists, pediatricians, neuropsychiatrists, ophthalmologists, university researchers, students, caregivers, parents, families, companies and distributors of technology and equipment…
On the occasion of the Icevi Conference, Citizenship will also be involved with the Padua SensoriAbile Days program, May 10-18, 2025. These will be accessible initiatives (guided tours, exhibitions, workshops, sports demonstrations, dinners in the dark…) to bring people closer to the topic of visual impairment and participate in multisensory cultural experiences with the goal of spreading new ways and perspectives of enjoying art, music, literature and sports that are more enriching for all.
The promoters and organizers of the conference
Icevi Europe is the European branch of the world’s largest association in the field of visual impairment; it promotes and organizes the Conference every 3-4 years. The organization, formed by individual professionals and professional bodies, promotes equal access to education and rehabilitation for children and youth with visual impairment so that they can feel and be participating and active members of society.
Icevi members work in collaboration with governments and institutions, nongovernmental organizations and international bodies to improve education for people with disabilities.
They support study groups on specific topics, such as early intervention, orientation and mobility, teaching and teacher courses, rehabilitation…
The Robert Hollman Foundation is a private organization of Dutch origin that in Italy, with its two Centers in Padua, Veneto, and Cannero Riviera (Verbania), Piedmont, offers free counseling and developmental support to children ages zero to 14 with visual impairment and their families. Each year the two sites welcome about 400 children who come from all over the country.
Read more: https://icevieurope2025-hollman.it/
Download the Icevi 2025 Conference flyer.
