Kiuppis announced as UNESCO Chairholder

Dr. Florian Kiuppis, Associate Professor at Lillehammer University College (Norway) was formally announced as the UNESCO Chairholder at IT Tralee during yesterday’s launch of the UNESCO Chair in Inclusive PE, Sport, Recreation and Fitness.

Dr. Kiuppis, who is a member of the Department of Education and Social Work (Faculty of Humanities, Sports and Social Sciences) at Lillehammer University College, has in a few short years forged a strong reputation in the field of inclusive education and is a welcome addition to the UNESCO team at IT Tralee.

Currently leading a Teacher Preparation Working Group in context of the Global Partnership on Children with Disabilities, led by UNICEF, from 2011-2014 Dr. Kiuppis acted as Chair of the Special Interest Group Inclusion, Comparative and International Education Society (CIES). In 2012 he was Project Manager at the Institute for Christian Ethics and Policy in Berlin, mainly responsible for a conference (organised in cooperation with Special Olympics Germany) at the Official Residence of the German Federal Government Commissioner for Matters relating to Disabled Persons, and from 2008-2011 he was Project Manager at the Catholic University of Applied Social Sciences in Berlin, responsible in the areas of Disability & Inclusion, organising a conference dealing with Sports & Disabilities: “Access to it is not everything”.

While yesterday’s launch provided Dr. Kiuppis with the opportunity to give his inaugural address in this new role, he also gave an informal lecture, entitled ‘My Background, My Role, Our Goal’ to staff and students on campus earlier today.

Dr. Kiuppis takes over from the late Prof. Margaret Talbot who was originally appointed Chairholder last year.