The European Pillar of Social Rights states that “Everyone has the right to quality and inclusive education, training and life-long learning in order to maintain and acquire skills that enable them to participate fully in society and manage successfully transitions in the labour market”. The main emphasis of all education policy efforts in the European Union have been along the axis of inclusion. The UN Convention on the Rights of People with Disabilities (CRPD) and the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) together define the rights and duties of the parents of disabled children as well, while clearly define the duties of public actors. The research outcomes of the ELPIDA and Parenting Together (PAT) projects – to be presented at the conference – have contributed to understanding the capacity building needs of parents of children with intellectual disabilities and that of professionals collaborating with them, also contributing to the definition of state actors’ responsibilities. The two projects focused on children of different age groups and thus different needs. The evidence based ELPIDA project, had been chosen for the Zero Award 2020.

Recent global research clearly shows that there is a need to rethink the relationship between families and institutionalised services to ensure the rights of the child. Parents International has carried out additional research focusing on especially education provisions and created a global, forward-looking initiative based on secondary and own research. This paper is aiming at showing the research behind this call for a New Deal on Education to establish it as an evidence-based initiative