The Hearing Foundation presented its Deaf Inclusion prizes and its scientific grand prize last night, during its annual evening event, “Together listening to life”. She also presented her current projects, including the takeover of the National Information Center on Deafness (Cnis-Surdi Info Service).
In the introduction, Jean-Pierre Meyers, its president, announced that the foundation had very recently been committed to the takeover of Cnis, which administers the Surdi Info Service site and was threatened with disappearance.. “This recovery also embodies our ambition for a more inclusive society where everyone finds the information and support they need”he said. Among many projects, the foundation expanded its scientific council, headed by Alain Chédotal, and launched a human and social sciences committee, made up of experts and users. On the practical side, it has published a support kit for businesses and local authorities who wish to implement inclusion actions. Its repository is accessible on the foundation's website.
This year 2024 also saw the establishment of close collaboration with the Ile-de-France Region. Valérie Pécresse, its president, came to present the main projects in this context. The region's regional anti-noise plan plans to reduce residents' exposure to noise by 30%, in particular thanks to sound radars and a video reporting system. Awareness programs for high school students are also being implemented, using Höra, the tool now being included in the Labase application. In addition, Relaxson spaces are installed at all the festivals that the Region finances.
In the presence of its godmother, Julie Gayet, the Foundation presented its various awards.
The winners of the 4th edition of the Deaf Inclusion Awards are:
- In gold: Plural law and its “Agir handicap” project, in dematerialized version: a national legal hotline accessible and free for hearing-impaired people, which has already processed 3,459 requests.
40,000 euros are awarded to him. They will allow it to recruit new stakeholders and develop fully accessible communication supports.
- In silver: Psy'Surdités, at the Rouvray hospital center (Côte d'or). These are mental health and psychiatry consultations dedicated to deaf or hard of hearing people. This unit aims to become a reference center in this field.
The service receives a grant of 30,000 euros which will be used to create videos providing access to care through information, and to acquire filming and editing equipment and tablets.
- In bronze: Collective of artists for solidarity-Hummingbird Orchestra. Calms offers, in partnership with the Marseille Conservatory, a musical initiation which includes deaf and hearing children and professional musicians.
The initiative receives 30,000 euros, in order to encourage the emergence of equivalent projects in new establishments and territories: up to 10 orchestras could be created by the end of 2025.
The next Deaf Inclusion Awards will be awarded in 2026.
The foundation's Grand Scientific Prize for 2024 was awarded to Professor Ulrich Müller, holder of the Bloomberg Chair of Neuroscience and Biology, and director of the Department of Developmental Neuroscience at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, in Baltimore (United States). -United). His work focused on the mechanisms allowing the sensory cells of the inner ear to transform sound and speech into electrical signals: mechanotransduction. The Grand Prize recognizes the discovery of the function of most of the genes involved in this process. It is endowed with 65,000 euros for personal use and an additional 25,000 euros for stays aimed at developing scientific collaborations.
