IFCO 2006 Conference

ON THE TABS ABOVE YOU WILL FIND "ABSTRACTS" WHERE YOU MAY VIEW THE DAILY PROGRAMME AND DOWNLOAD THE THE FULL ABSTRACTS BOOK. YOU WILL ALSO FIND "EVALUATION" WHERE YOU ARE INVITED TO COMPLETE AN ONLINE EVALUATION FORM IF YOU ATTENDED IFCO 2006 BRATISLAVA - thank you.

Developing Foster Care in CEE/CIS/Baltic - Learning Together

IFCO's "East-East Network" seeks to link together all those involved in the development of family based care in the countries of Eastern Europe (CEE/CIS/Baltics).

Since 1989 considerable progress has been made in deinstitutionalisation and the development of family support services and foster care in many countries in the region, but progress is patchy and overall the proportion of children in public care continues to rise.

IFCO has previously held regional conferences in East Germany, Hungary and the Czech Republic. The IFCO 2006 REGIONAL TRAINING SEMINAR will be held in BRATISLAVA in the residential conference centre established by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the SLOVAK REPUBLIC.

The patron of the conference is the Slovak Minister of Foreign Affairs, Eduard Kukan, who will speak at the Opening Ceremony.

The IFCO Seminar will bring together people from across the region and beyond to share and learn together in a busy programme of plenary and workshop sessions. Full programme is available at this website. Many relevant themes are covered including "Fostering children with disabilities / Kinship care / Innovative recruiting of foster parents / Fostering Children with challenging behaviour / Early infant brain development / Adapting PRIDE Training for use in post-Communist societies, and others. All those interested in the development of foster care in Eastern Europe are welcome to attend - places are limited so please apply early! (IFCO 2004 in Prague sold out)

Please reserve your place now and complete the booking form and pay by May 1. The training seminar registration fee will be 100 EUR for IFCO members booking and paying before this date, and 150 EUR for non-members and everybody paying after May 1. Accompanying guests who do not attend the conference (only the Opening and Closing Ceremony and Conference Dinner) will pay half these amounts. There are a limited number of twin-bedded ensuite bedrooms at the conference venue and these will quickly be booked - so hurry! (SOLD OUT!!!) A range of other hotels will be offered. Click on Accommodation above to find more.

Call for papers - closing date April 14. If you wish to submit a proposal for a plenary or workshop session please click on Call for Papers above. No payment will be made to speakers / workshop presenters. The conference language will be English..

Travel and Visa - Bratislava has good road & rail communications. Several low-cost airlines fly into the international airport (BTS) - see www.skyeurope.com and www.skyscanner.net Vienna airport is close and has hourly connections to Bratislava by bus and train. You may even take a 90-minute ride on the regular hydrofoil ferry along the River Danube from Vienna to Bratislava www.lod.sk. For more information click on Travel info.

Visas - The Slovak Republic is a member of the European Union but not part of the "Schengen Agreement" for visa purposes. If you need a visa then IFCO invitation / confirmation letters will be issued after the receipt of all payments - please allow plenty of time for your visa application!