There has been a growing understanding about the problem of social exclusion in many European countries and new methods of inclusion are being sought. Social Work has not always responded to this need, neither in education nor in practice. In the UK - service users and their organizations have become systematically involved in social work by involvement in its professional education and training. Service users have seen this as a crucial way of improving the appropriateness of professional practice. This has culminated with requirements in English social work for user involvement in all aspects and all stages of professional qualifying and post-qualifying social work. Groups that had previously often been hidden, have gained a greater presence in societies. Their viewpoints have begun to permeate the mainstream, just as they have made major steps along the long road to inclusion and equal rights. In Scandinavia this development has recently begun. In Sweden an innovative course integrating service user students with social work students has been the inspiration to a national network of schools of social work – BRUS. In Lillehammer, Norway teachers have developed a similar course and have tried different ways to empower service users within education and research. However, these methods are not as common or regulated in Scandinavia as in the UK, and therefore, they face more resistance within the university system. The main goal of this project is to develop and improve possibilities for service user involvement in Sweden and in Norway. By building national support structures and networks we hope to overcome some of the difficulties we´ve had to find sustainable ways to finance and mainstream service user involvement in the education of social work. The consortium consists of service user organizations and university teachers that are leading the development of service user involvement in social work education in Norway, Sweden and in the UK. The partnership that received the name PowerUs has increased the knowledge about these innovative methods nationally and internationally. During the two years the project has been running gapmending courses has been held in many new places in new European countries. The participants have been strengthening the support structures around these initiatives as the network has been growing stronger. In Norway we have initiated a national network of universities that collaborates with service user organizations. A similar network already exists in Sweden. In Sweden we have set up a supportive network of municipalities and other stakeholders to participate and to support the gapmending courses at the Swedish universities.