On the occasion of the “World Accessibility Day” the international day dedicated to raising awareness of the inclusion of people with disabilities and equal rights, the Tuscany Region organized a day of debate and discussion with people with disabilities and associations that represent them but also experts, public administrators, research institutes, to define how to improve the conditions of accessibility to all spaces, services and infrastructures of our Region.
Themes and tables
In 9 different tables, each made up of twelve people, set up at the Palazzo dei Congressi in Florence, the central issues regarding accessibility were addressed: from personal autonomy to tourism, from urban planning to mobility, from health to work, from culture to sport. Each working group has developed proposals and requests to make all physical, digital and social environments as inclusive as possible so that individuals, regardless of their background, identity or ability, feel valued, respected and supported.
According to the regional councilor for social policies, who introduced the work, this innovative formula was found to be valid and functional for the purpose because it allowed a very participatory and concrete discussion between people with different points of view and roles. The will expressed today, the councilor highlighted, was to gradually overcome an approach based on ‘special’ solutions to build a broader vision, in which all areas of our communities are thought of as places where differences can coexist as equals and have the same opportunities. Accessibility, you highlighted, must not be an accessory to other policies but must become structural because it is an element that brings democracy, equality and inclusion. We want, she concluded, to do so too promoters of changein which it is not people with disabilities who have to adapt to the world around them, but vice versa, it is the world that becomes as truly accessible as possible to everyone.
For Alberto Zanobinihead of the inclusion and accessibility sector of the Tuscany Region, underlined how: “Today’s initiative served to put the discussion back at the center a universal word like accessibility. With respect to this word and how it is used, a cultural change is necessary: accessible does not indicate the platform that we add after having created a work, it is instead the way in which urban spaces, tools, services, making them inclusive and accessible to all. In this process the Region is ready to do its part, together with the Municipalities, because accessibility policies must involve the territories”.
A winning format
But how can we make our public spaces more accessible? Antonio Lauria, professor of architectural technology at the University of Florence recalled in his speech that these are complex processes: “Initially – he said – we need to act on training, then we need to act concretely by trying to have a very broad vision, which takes into account the fact that people can have very different disabilities and functional limitations. When designing you should acquire all these needs and make sure that the project can satisfy them as much as possible”. He then added about the initiative: “Normally in conferences and seminars there is one person who speaks while the others listen, here there is a much more operational and concrete approach: each listener is also a participant and can give his contribution to the discussion”.
Piera Nobilipresident of Cerpa Italia onlus (Cerpa stands for European Center for Research and Promotion of Accessibility) instead underlined the value of this ‘table’ formula: “The participatory discussion method they are always very effective. The system of participation on defined themes, starting from key words, with the presence of highly technically qualified people, and with the contributions of citizens and associations, allows us to achieve the objective we have set ourselves: in this case to reach to a synthesis of ideas and proposals to be brought into the regional strategic plan”.
The proposals and directions that emerged during the day will form a final document that will help define the direction of the regional strategies on accessibility for the next three years.
