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Strategies for better access
Friday, March 15th, 2013
Sweden points the way to creating a disabled-friendly city.
ACCESSIBILITY is very much a buzzword in the disability community these days. So, it was little wonder that more than 200 participants packed a training centre’s seminar hall during a recent forum in Kuala Lumpur.
Called “Towards An Accessible City”, the event was a joint collaboration between the Swedish Embassy – through its commercial arm Business Sweden – and KL City Hall.
This was the second time that such an initiative was held by both countries. The first was a similar forum in February last year, which focused on the deaf in society.
“Only with active participation, awareness and support from the local authorities and citizens, can this idea (of an accessible city for all) become a concept that would later lead to a lifestyle,” noted Bengt G. Carlsson, Swedish Ambassador to Malaysia, at the opening of the seminar.
Expert speakers from Sweden tackled the thorny issue of how to transform a non-friendly city into an accessible one. They shared success stories of how the country got in tune with its disabled residents over the years and provided for their special needs.
It is hoped that their input could help Malaysia develop strategies for building a barrier-free environment. We could come up with ways to make more areas wheelchair-friendly and accessible to the blind.
Other areas that we need to work on include helping handicapped people to communicate more easily and have access to vital information about themselves, no matter where they come from.
It is also important to ensure that people with disabilities are treated with respect and dignity, have the same right to education as non-disabled people, and are able to hold jobs so that they can support themselves and their families.
They must also have access to recreational facilities all over the country.
Sweden, for example, has invested a lot in tourism. The seminar revealed that extensive accessibility programmes have been introduced in Stockholm since 2000. One of the notable success stories of that initiative was a 2011 project called “Stockholm – A City For Everyone”.
The city began consciously creating an environment for people with a wide range of disabilities, not just wheelchair-users.
by Anthony Thanasayan.
Read more @ http://thestar.com.my/columnists/story.asp?col=wheelpower&file=/2013/3/14/columnists/wheelpower/12832627&sec=Wheel%20Power
ACCESSIBILITY is very much a buzzword in the disability community these days. So, it was little wonder that more than 200 participants packed a training centre’s seminar hall during a recent forum in Kuala Lumpur.
Called “Towards An Accessible City”, the event was a joint collaboration between the Swedish Embassy – through its commercial arm Business Sweden – and KL City Hall.
This was the second time that such an initiative was held by both countries. The first was a similar forum in February last year, which focused on the deaf in society.
“Only with active participation, awareness and support from the local authorities and citizens, can this idea (of an accessible city for all) become a concept that would later lead to a lifestyle,” noted Bengt G. Carlsson, Swedish Ambassador to Malaysia, at the opening of the seminar.
Expert speakers from Sweden tackled the thorny issue of how to transform a non-friendly city into an accessible one. They shared success stories of how the country got in tune with its disabled residents over the years and provided for their special needs.
It is hoped that their input could help Malaysia develop strategies for building a barrier-free environment. We could come up with ways to make more areas wheelchair-friendly and accessible to the blind.
Other areas that we need to work on include helping handicapped people to communicate more easily and have access to vital information about themselves, no matter where they come from.
It is also important to ensure that people with disabilities are treated with respect and dignity, have the same right to education as non-disabled people, and are able to hold jobs so that they can support themselves and their families.
They must also have access to recreational facilities all over the country.
Sweden, for example, has invested a lot in tourism. The seminar revealed that extensive accessibility programmes have been introduced in Stockholm since 2000. One of the notable success stories of that initiative was a 2011 project called “Stockholm – A City For Everyone”.
The city began consciously creating an environment for people with a wide range of disabilities, not just wheelchair-users.
by Anthony Thanasayan.
Read more @ http://thestar.com.my/columnists/story.asp?col=wheelpower&file=/2013/3/14/columnists/wheelpower/12832627&sec=Wheel%20Power
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