The Together+ Project ran from November 2022 to October 2025. It brought together organisations from five countries to support the transition from institutional to community-based care.
What we aimed to do
The project had three main goals:
- To develop practical guidelines for deinstitutionalisation of people with intellectual disabilities.
- To design and test training in managing deinstituionalisation.
- To create an international platform for sharing and transferring experience about deinstitutionalisation.
What we achieved
Together+ created a platform for learning and exchange between countries. Partners shared examples, challenges, and tools that supported progress towards community-based living.
We produced a deinstitutionalisation guide and training modules that can be used by public authorities, service providers, and civil society organisations. These materials helped strengthen capacity to plan, monitor, and carry out deinstitutionalisation.
The trainings were done in 4 countries: Czechia, Romania, Lithuania, and Slovakia. Participants from public authorities, service providers or NGOs took part in the trainings.
“This diversity of participants was one of the key strenghts of the trainings,” found a supervision report. “It allowed for an exchange of experiences across services and countries. It encouraged discussion across the different DI-actors.”
Participants particularly valued the examples included in the DI Guide as well as those brought by trainers based on their experiences and the work done in the countries.
What we learned
Each country’s laws, benefit systems, and other circumstances required local sadaptation. Training and peer learning made a visible difference. People felt more confident in the change. Still, they asked for more practical examples and solutions to practical situation.
The Together+ project was funded by the European Union. The projects partners will continue to advance the transition from institutions to community-based care, using the partnerships and tools created during the project.