The professional college has adopted the advanced Accessibility Anthology for its members. Collaboration with the Zerobarriere quality mark institute
Perugia, 25 May. 2024 – Even today in Italy, and therefore also in Umbria, people with disabilities find themselves faced with architectural obstacles on a daily basis. (In the photo, Tonzani and Tosti)
And this despite the fact that laws already exist to avoid their construction and the costs and technical difficulties to avoid their construction are minimal. Having noted this situation, also in light of the first G7 Inclusion and Disability which will be held in Assisi from 14 to 16 October and the choice of the province of Perugia for testing the Disability reform, both decisions desired by the Minister for Disabilities, Alessandra Locatelli, the surveyors of the province of Perugia have decided to move forward, not limiting themselves to complying with a regulation that is evidently too old and not adequate for the needs, but instead looking at the most advanced models in this field at an international level, such as that of the city state of Singapore, taken as an example throughout the world, trying to apply them also in the Umbrian territory, without waiting for the innovations of the legislator.
And so, thanks to the Cogeo company, which deals with the professional training of members of the College of Surveyors of Perugia, the latter has now adopted and made available to all technicians and beyond an in-depth Accessibility Anthology, drawn up by The Zerobarriere quality mark institute, which collects standards, indications and useful suggestions for building cities without architectural obstacles.
“We realized – explained the president of the College of Surveyors of Perugia, Enzo Tonzani – how many countless obstacles a person with any disability, but also a mother who takes her child out for a walk in a pram, can find in their daily journeys. .
There are certainly already projects to eliminate architectural barriers, but they are not yet sufficient or decisive. Unfortunately, these are critical issues that can hardly be fully identified and understood by those who do not experience the problem firsthand. As a College we have therefore decided to try to lend a hand ourselves, learning, studying, understanding the problem and therefore committing ourselves to planning with all the necessary precautions.
It is also a way to raise awareness among professional technicians and, more generally, citizens and politicians.” Illustrating the potential of the tool placed in the hands of surveyors, the Accessibility Anthology created by the Institute of the Zerobarriere quality mark, was therefore the president of the institute himself, Mario Tosti: “I have no difficulty in stating that this anthology is today one of the most complete at an international level. We have analyzed all the most advanced models, summarizing all the best regulations and construction techniques regarding accessibility.
I’ll give you an example: Italian law says that the optimal height of the edge of the slide towards the pavement must be 25 millimetres, but a person in a wheelchair who is too weak or too heavy cannot overcome it: in Brussels instead they make the edges of the slides with a 30 degree bevel which is just enough to make the lives of at least 10 percent of people with disabilities better.” “To design well – underlined Tosti – designers must put themselves in the shoes of the person with disabilities, but since this is very complicated, our anthology shows them what the problems and the best solutions are”.
The course is already available to all surveyors by accessing the Cogeo web portal formation.cogeosrl.com. But the goal is to spread and promote it beyond professionals. “We would like to raise awareness among the technicians who operate in the area, obviously – commented the president of Cogeo, Alviero Palombi –, but also among the entire population, and in particular the legislator, so as to be able to arrive at an exhaustive project for overcoming definition of architectural barriers”.
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