Page 45 - RUICHSS 2023 Proceeding

University of Ruhuna ISSN: 2706-0063
Matara, Sri Lanka

framework that is in line with the ideas proposed elsewhere in this text. While

research is important because it offers a specific type of data overview, it is
impossible to create truly inclusive, individualised support systems without

considering the lived experiences of those we are trying to support.

In turn, co-production is a concept that could be said to build on lived experience-
based practice. Makey et al. (2022) define it as a process adopted in health, social

care, research, policy development, and higher education that aims to bring
together the skills and experiences of service users and professionals. It has a range
of advantages, such as enabling users of a service to have a voice and to equalise

power among service users, professionals, and leaders. In other words, co-
production can be viewed as a practical application extension of the well-known
motto of the disability rights movement "nothing about us without us." Simply put

and applied to the context of the social dimension of higher education, it is a
collaboration on and co-creation of an inclusive environment that not only
accounts for diversity but actively engages with it in a constructive manner.

And, for the end, as authors Janebova et al. (2021) remind us, we must bear in
mind that inclusive education is not an outcome, but a process that is constantly

revised and reconsidered. We can never be fully inclusive, but we can get close to
it. There will always be new questions and challenges. It is a never-ending process.
So, there is no end point to inclusion, but a cycle of effort, critical reflection, further

change, and hope (Janebova et al. 2021).

The effort is truly worth it because very often the impact of the opportunities,

education, and mobility provided is much more significant for people with fewer
opportunities than for the typical population. All efforts to achieve inclusion,
equity, and fairness in higher education are worthwhile because higher education

has a mission to change society, to make it better. Let's do it!

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