1st Ibero-American Congress on Inclusive Education as a Social Movement

Congress banner. On a green background, concentric circles on the left of the image frame the marker drawing of a girl with many cheerful colors, such as red, light blue, orange, and yellow. On her t-shirt, and hugging her, a blue globe, on which two figures stand out: a dragon on the left, shaped like Latin America, and a butterfly on the right, shaped like the Iberian Peninsula. Above, on the image and within the colored circles, you can read the following printed letters: 1st Latin American Congress on inclusive education as a social movement. To the right of the girl, you can read details of location, date, and time, the logos of UNESCO support, and the organizers: Quererla es Crearla, Congreso IÓN, and University of Málaga. And above them, in yellow, it reads: 5th Workshop Quererla es Crearla and 4th Congress ION.

An international meeting of committed citizens to build a common roadmap

1st Ibero-American Congress, 5th ‘Quererla es Crearla’ Workshop and 4th IÓN Congress

Asunción Declaration for Inclusive Education as a Social Movement

On April 9, 10, and 11, 2026, more than 600 people gathered in Asunción (Paraguay), convened thanks to the prior work carried out by the Delegations from 9 Ibero-American countries – Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Cuba, Spain, Paraguay, Peru, and Uruguay. This work involved the development of participatory national diagnoses on the state of inclusive education, through 14 workshops where citizens’ experiences and horizontal dialogue were brought to the forefront.

The event, 1st Ibero-American Congress on Inclusive Education as a Social Movement, was convened and organized by the IÓN Movement of Paraguay, the Quererla es Crearla Movement, and the University of Málaga, with the support of UNESCO. This meeting also included the participation of other social movements from the region and the input from 39 research papers conducted in 10 countries, including Ecuador and Mexico. With the participation of students, professionals, families, politicians, and academics, the event constituted an extraordinary space for the collective construction of passionate knowledge and the union of wills around education without exclusions. This declaration and commitments emerge from that work.

Download the Asunción Declaration

A summary of the congress in images

Congress Context

For 7 years, we have been working on the promotion of inclusive education with the movement Quererla es crearla, which aims for the participation and commitment of citizens with inclusive education. It seeks to raise awareness that making schools inclusive is a shared responsibility of teachers, families, students, and citizens in general. The movement connects citizen participation with international scientific evidence about inclusive education, which is very important at a time of global disinformation like the present.

This movement was born in Spain in 2018, through two research projects funded by the Ministry of Science, led by the University of Malaga. The projects are having a strong scientific impact and social, with international awards from research societies like the American Educational Research Association and international organizations like Down Syndrome International. 

Previous Participatory Meetings

A mother takes the floor at the general assembly of the Orienta workshop.
Workshop Orienta, Málaga, 2018
Conversations, Online, 2020
Photograph of a moment during the Crearla Workshop, where a man dressed in black with gray hair is speaking, standing among a group of people listening attentively.
Workshop Crearla, Madrid, 2022
Congress ION, Asunción, 2023
Participants of an event (ION 2024, Paraguay) in a festive moment, with hands raised and laughing.
Congress ION, Asunción, 2024
Workshop Cataliza, Barcelona, 2024

The entire process undertaken has been developed through citizen research processes that begin with national participatory evaluations involving a significant number of people through Workshops, events where workshops and assemblies follow and are systematized, leading to action proposals for subsequent years. Thus, cycles of Participatory Action Research are initiated in which citizens assume their leading role in the transformation of education systems. The key to all of this is to start from people’s conceptions and experiences, and to facilitate their critical analysis focused on action.

The movement also has a history in Latin America since 2017 with the Program for the Promotion of Inclusive Education in the Americas of the OAS. In countries like Paraguay, for example, there has been intense development (called IÓN) since that time. Now, the movement is gaining momentum in the region: it was presented in Bolivia last year, at the Encuentro de los Ministerios de Educación Iberoamericanos (Ibero-American Intergovernmental Network for Cooperation in Education for Persons with Special Educational Needs, RIINEE), coordinated by Spain together with UNESCO and AECID.

XIX Jornada RIINEE, Santa Cruz de la Sierra, 2024
XIX Jornada RIINEE, Santa Cruz de la Sierra, 2024
XIX Jornada RIINEE, Santa Cruz de la Sierra, 2024
XIX Jornada RIINEE, Santa Cruz de la Sierra, 2024
On a purple and green background, and next to the drawing of a butterfly, the following text can be read: STORIES Reading Rafael's story has become an invitation to read and reread our story as a family. My story is reconstructed every time I give it a new interpretation, looking back to project myself into a different tomorrow. Returning thanks to the stories of each of the families has allowed me to give new meanings to what was, and to frame it within struggles that go beyond my own story. (Cristina, Gael's mother, Colombia)
On a purple and green background, and next to the drawing of a butterfly, the following text can be read: RESISTANCES Indira, without realizing it, has fought much more than she thinks, but her fight has been labeled as disruptive behavior. Indira is not disruptive. Indira doesn't do that to bother the person next to her. Indira is standing her ground and saying: 'No. This is not what I have to do here.' Many times they would say: 'Today she did this, today she did that…' I thought: 'But do they realize she is resisting?' (Noemí Preciado, Indira's mother, Spain)
On a purple and green background, and next to the drawing of a butterfly, the following text can be read: BREAKING THE SILENCE The 'Quererla es Crearla' conference was the catalyst I needed. Hearing their testimonies of discrimination, I felt a deep connection. At that moment, I decided I could no longer remain silent. I went on stage, my heart pounding a mile a minute, and shared my own story. By talking about my fears, insecurities, and achievements, I felt liberated. The tears that flowed from my eyes were not of weakness, but of long-held emotion. (Ariel Ruiz, activist, Paraguay)
A PROCESS Personally, it has been a slap in the face, because we thought we were an inclusive school. And I have learned that it is a process and you have to stay in it. It's not about applying a project, but about maintaining it. The greatest learning has come from the words of the students, families, and teachers to see how we feel, to start from there recognizing that we don't know everything. It left me with the concern to continue preparing myself.
On a purple and green background, and next to the drawing of a butterfly, the following text can be read: ACTIVISM The work we are doing in 'Students for Inclusion' is because we don't want anyone else to go through what we went through. So that those boys and girls of the future who will be in educational centers don't suffer what we have suffered. That seems very important to me and that's why I'm here, because I don't want anyone to go through that. (Antón Fontao, student, Spain)

A Congress for participatory work and social outreach

On April 9-11, 2026, in Asunción (Paraguay), we will hold the 1st Ibero-American Congress on Inclusive Education as a Social Movement. It aims to be a participatory gathering that will work with key citizens – including students, families, professionals, researchers, and policymakers – throughout the region. The meeting will serve as a catalyst for sharing the work already underway in different countries. Several countries will develop at least one workshop where citizens will conduct a participatory assessment of the state of inclusive education in their nation, with the goal of projecting actions to advance the agenda. Examples include this summary video of the meeting organized by the steering group in Paraguay or the detailed information from the last workshop in Spain. 

The national participatory meetings aim to develop a social assessment of what is happening regarding inclusive education in each country. It is not so much about analyzing statistical data, but rather about qualitative and collective reflection on experiences and emotions, on conflicts and desires, and on possible transformations. In other words, it is about filtering the analysis through experience, as a way to question the entire system that sustains it. Therefore, people’s testimonies become forms of knowledge and resistance, especially when they are shared collectively. Each participatory meeting brings this to the forefront of the analysis. As can be observed, it is the people who take center stage, and the methodology allows their knowledge to bear fruit: we intend for the 2026 Congress in Asunción to be highly influential, and to generate a roadmap for common action in Ibero-America.

Different Steering Groups in various countries have taken on the challenge of developing a national participatory diagnosis of the state of inclusive education, and they are: Paraguay, Colombia, Argentina, Cuba, Uruguay, Peru, Chile, Brazil, and Spain. All of them will have held the diagnostic day before February 2026, with the idea of sharing their results at the Congress in Paraguay. The research team from the University of Malaga is responsible for developing the necessary methodological training for the national days, which will consist of a day of assemblies and workshops for a diverse group of people. These participatory diagnoses will initiate the first cycle of a Participatory Action Research in each country, which aims to take shape at the meeting in Paraguay.

Extensive information can be found about “Quererla es crearla” on the website www.creemoseducacioninclusiva.com. It shows the depth, rigor, and democratic value of the work carried out. All of this is particularly valuable today. At a time when diversity and inclusion are targets of the most reactionary movements through disinformation, provoking hatred instead of encounter, inclusive education, backed by international science, is the most forceful response, full of hope. In schools, we learn to value ourselves and to live together. A project like this offers a clear response to humanity’s democratic desires.

Congress Graphic
  • Download the poster, available in PDF and online.
  • Download the program, available in PDF.
Image of the congress program
Congress Program

Purpose of the meeting

Generate an international meeting between families, students, professionals, university researchers, and policymakers that starts from the diagnosis of the school reality in relation to inclusion, built in different Ibero-American countries.

Based on these qualitative assessments, an egalitarian dialogue is intended to emerge, from which a roadmap will emerge for continued work in a participatory, organized, and systematic manner over the next 2 years.

This is not a typical conference.It is a meeting aimed at facilitating and accelerating the transformation process of our education systems to make them more inclusive, both in Spain and in Latin America.

  • Download the poster, available in PDF and online.

Asunción (Paraguay), April 9, 10, and 11, 2026

Congress poster. On a green background, concentric circles at the top of the image frame the marker drawing of a girl with many cheerful colors, such as red, light blue, orange, and yellow. On her t-shirt, and hugging her, a blue globe, on which two figures stand out: a dragon on the left, shaped like Latin America, and a butterfly on the right, shaped like the Iberian Peninsula. Above, on the image and within the colored circles, you can read the following printed letters: 1st Latin American Congress on inclusive education as a social movement. At the bottom of the largest circle, on an orange background, it reads: 5th Workshop Quererla es Crearla and 4th Congress ION. Below, you can read details of location, date, and time, the logos of UNESCO support, the organizers (Quererla es Crearla, Congreso IÓN, and University of Málaga), and the collaboration of RIINEE and OEI.
Congress Poster

Objectives

  • To develop a joint discussion of the participatory diagnostics carried out in the different countries of the network, in order to identify barriers and facilitators, share experiences, and develop a common roadmap.
  • To facilitate and accelerate the process of transformation of educational policies, cultures, and practices in schools in Spain and Latin America, orienting them towards inclusion and equity through participatory methodologies.
  • To know and understand the educational conceptions, experiences, and professional practices involved in the processes of school inclusion in the different countries of the network.
  • To learn from the knowledge of students, families, and professionals, encouraging all members of the educational community to share their school experiences and proposals for improvement, in a context that brings together the local and the global.
  • To establish a space for the development of an International Network of schools for Inclusion and Equity.
Congress Poster

The important preparatory work in each country

The Congress is preceded by highly relevant work driven by Motor Groups from different countries in the network. In all these countries, a National Workshop will be held before February 2026, in which a participatory evaluation of the situation of their respective education systems in relation to inclusion and equity will be developed. The initial methodology of the process, which may be modified depending on each context, is structuredaround different moments and spaces for connection and work,illustrated in the following infographic.

Methodology of the National Workshops

  1. Testimonials.Pre-meeting reflection with testimonials about pains and joys associated with school. The Motor Groups from Paraguay, Colombia, Argentina, Uruguay, Peru, Chile, Brazil, Venezuela, Mexico, and Spain have already carried out a compilation of testimonials, which is available at:https://tinyurl.com/2cwwpa5j 
  2. Initial Assembly.Debriefing space where the lines of work for the workshops are generated.
  3. Workshops.Dedicated to the in-depth analysis of the main problems detected.
  4. Assembly.Sharing of work from the different workshops.
  5. Continuation of workshops.Development of proposals and solutions to the problems analyzed.
  6. Final Assembly.Debate and reflection on the design of strategic lines for action.
  • Download the Infographic, available in PDF and online.
Infographic with the steps to be taken in the National workshops, illustrated with photographs from a previous event.
Infographic of the Methodology of the National Workshops, prior to the Congress

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Workshop Cataliza, Barcelona, 2024