Project report. The Nordic-Baltic Seminars Introducing Universal Design as a National Strategy

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1 Nordic School of Public Health Nordic Cooperation on Disability Gothenburg, Project report Project: Objective: The Nordic-Baltic Seminars Introducing Universal Design as a National Strategy To arrange two seminars (in Estonia and Lithuania) in order to discuss how to implement the statements and recommendations worked out in the Council of Europe s report Achieving full participation through Universal Design in the Nordic and Baltic countries in the best way. Project organisation: The project was carried out by the Nordic School of Public Health (NHV) and the Nordic Cooperation on Disability (NSH) in the period of August 2006-February Partners in Estonia: Partners in Lithuania: The Ministry of Social Affairs; The Estonian Chamber of Disabled People; The Office of Equal Opportunities Ombudsman; The Nordic Council of Ministers Office in Lithuania; Target group of the seminars: decision makers in the sphere of urban planning, transport, communications, culture, education, social care, public health on the national and regional levels in Estonia and Lithuania as well as representatives of NGOs for people with disabilities. Aims of the seminars: To introduce the Council of Europe s upcoming report and to contribute with the concrete suggestions to the recommendations to governments on improving accessibility based on the principles of Universal Design that the Committee of Experts on Universal Design (Accessibility) is expected to draw up. To familiarize the participants of the seminar with the Baltic (Estonian, Lithuanian) legislation on improving accessibility in different spheres. To present the Nordic view on Universal Design/Design for All as a national strategy that promotes sustainable development that was worked out by the NCM in two documents adopted in 2005 Design for All a Nordic Programme for Action and the revised strategy Sustainable Development New Bearings for the Nordic Countries. To exchange the experiences in mainstreaming that the Nordic and Baltic countries have gained in improving accessibility for all. To contribute to further integration of the Universal Design/Design for All concept into the political agenda. Seminar documents: 1. The Nordic Council of Ministers Action Plan Design for All a Nordic programme for Action. (It was translated into Estonian/Lithuanian); 2. The Norwegian Government Action Plan for increased accessibility for persons with disabilities. Plan for universal design in key areas of society. (Its short version was translated into Estonian/Lithuanian); 3. The Council of Europe Action Plan to promote the rights and full participation of people with disabilities in society: improving the quality of life of people with disabilities in Europe (It was translated into Estonian); 4. The Nordic Strategy Sustainable Development New Bearings for the Nordic Countries ; 5. The presentation of the Council of Europe Report Achieving full participation through Universal Design (the Report is expected to become available in the spring of 2007); Seminar programme: 1

2 Seminar Introducing Universal Design as a National Strategy in Estonia The seminar in Tallinn was held on participants, the representatives of the following organisations took part in the seminar: The Ministry of Social Affairs (Estonia); The Ministry of Transport and Communications (Estonia); The Ministry of Education and Science (Estonia); The Municipalities of Tallinn, Tartu, Paide, Valga; The Estonian National Institute of Health Development; The Tallinn Health College; The Estonian Employers Confederation; The Estonian Chamber of Disabled People (Umbrella organisation); The Board of Disabled People from 10 counties (Rapla, Tallinn, East-Virumaa, Viljandi, Hiiumaa, Pärnu, Põlva, Järva, Jõgeva, Võru); Edelaraudtee AS, Estonian Railway Company; The Ministry of the Environment (Norway); The Nordic School of Public Health; The Nordic Cooperation on Disability; The seminar was welcomed by Mr Jaak Aab, Minister of Social Affairs of the Republic of Estonia and Mrs Kai Kukk representing the Ministry of Education and Science. The programme of the seminar included the plenary session and the discussions in 2 groups (for more details see page 6 or The moderators of the group discussions: The reporters: Max Petzold (Sweden) Karin Lilienberg (Estonia) Olav Rand Bringa (Norway) Evastina Björk (Sweden) and Tõne Karu (Estonia) The seminar was met as a just in time event by most participants. At present the government of Estonia is working at a new strategy on disability policy and revised legislation on welfare. The strategy is planned to be adopted in the spring of The seminar let the Ministry of Social Affairs that is responsible for the documents present the state of things and have an opportunity to get the feedback and expert assistance from the participants of the seminar (on the spot and after the seminar using the created network). Proposals from the seminar participants (on how to follow up the seminar ensuring integration of the Universal design concept into development policies and on further cooperation between Estonia and the Nordic countries aimed at achieving full accessibility of the society for all citizens) N Area Suggested activities 1. Competence and experience exchange between civil servants working with disability policy in general and with issues concerning improving accessibility of society in particular at the national level within the country and abroad. 2. Experience and knowledge exchange between municipalities in Estonia and in the Nordic countries aimed at improving accessibility of society at the local level. 1. Study trips (co-financed) for Estonian civil servants working at developing strategic documents on disability and accessibility policy to the corresponding ministries in the Nordic countries; 2. Establishment of small groups of Nordic experts (reference groups) who can share the experience and competence in preparing strategic documents concerning disability and accessibility policy on request from the Estonian authorities. 1. National Estonian and joint Estonian-Nordic seminars for municipal employees in order to discuss the concept, definitions, good practices, designing and implementation of action plans on improving accessibility; 2

3 2. Study trips for Estonian municipal officers to the Nordic municipalities that have gained a good experience implementing the Universal design principles. The target group of the activity can vary: those Estonian municipalities who have already started working with Universal design issues; those municipalities which representatives participated in the seminar; those municipalities that would like to see how this work might be organised on the local level and get inspired; the biggest Estonian municipalities; The project group would suggest getting acquainted with the experience of the 16 Norwegian pilot municipalities working on incorporation of Universal design principles into local planning activities if this activity is supported by the seminar participants. 3. Raising awareness of Universal design (for general public, civil servants, politicians, etc.), competence development in the area, changing of people s attitude towards persons with disabilities and their participation in community life. 1. To map measures, aimed at raising awareness of Design for all, to be taken in higher educational institutions in Estonia. 2. To start discussions between educational institutions aimed at including lectures/seminars in Universal design into the curricula of the existing programmes. 3. To bring up to discussion the possibility of establishing a competence and training centre dealing with issues of accessibility and Universal design in Estonia; 4. To stimulate higher educational institutions to pay more attention to accessibility issues and develop action plans on improving accessibility to both buildings and learning materials; 5. To assist in establishing a contact between the Nordic Council on Disability Policy s Network on Education and Training Issues and the Estonian Ministry of Education and Science as well as the Estonian universities; 6. To contact associations/unions of professionals (architects, designers, municipal planners, occupational therapists, engineers, etc.) and discuss the opportunity of offering some kind of training in Universal design to the corresponding groups; 7. To invite Estonian politicians, user organisations as well as branch specialists to relevant conferences/activities in the Nordic countries. 8. To support conferences /educational activities on the issue on the national, regional and local levels in Estonia; 9. To find the term in the Estonian language that appropriately corresponds the meaning of Universal design and is accepted by the society. The Ministry of Social Affairs is planning to translate the Council of Europe Report Achieving full participation through Universal design into Estonian as soon as the full text of the document is available to the public and publish it on its homepage. 3

4 Seminar Introducing Universal Design as a National Strategy in Lithuania The seminar in Vilnius was held on the participants, the representatives of the following organisations took part in the seminar: The Parliament (Seimas) of the Republic of Lithuania (Committee on Human Rights); The Ministry of Health (Lithuania); The Ministry of Environment (Lithuania); The Ministry of Transport and Communications (Lithuania); The Ministry of Social Security and Labour (Lithuania); The Ministry of Education and Science (Lithuania); The Department for Affairs of the Disabled (under the Ministry of Social Security and Labour); The Centre for Technical Aid for Disabled People (under the Ministry of Social Security and Labour); The Information Society Development Committee under the Government of Republic of Lithuania; The Lithuanian State Environmental Health Centre; The Lithuanian Institute of Information Technologies; The National Audit Office of the Republic of Lithuania; The Office of Equal Opportunities Ombudsman (Lithuania); The Municipalities of Vilnius, Kaunas; Utena County Governor s Administration; The Kaunas University of Medicine. The Geriatric Clinic, the Rehabilitation Clinic; The Lithuanian Societies/Associations for People with Disabilities (Physically Disabled, With Intellectual Disabilities, with Mental Retardation, with Injuries of the Backbone, the Blind and Visually Impaired, the Deaf, of Families with Deaf and Hearing Impaired Children); The Lithuania s special weekly for people with disabilities; The Embassy of Sweden in Lithuania; The Embassy of Norway in Lithuania; The Nordic Cooperation on Disability; The Ministry of the Environment (Norway); The Ministry of Social Inclusion and Labour (Norway); The Nordic School of Public Health; The Swedish Institute for Special Needs Education; The Danish Cultural Institute; The seminar was welcomed by Mrs Malin Kärre, the Ambassador of Sweden in Lithuania, Mr Arminas Lydeka, Chairman of the Committee on Human Rights of the Lithuanian Parliament, Ms Violeta Murauskaité, Undersecretary of the Lithuanian Ministry of Social Security and Labour and Mrs Aušriné Burneikiené, Equal Opportunities Ombudsman. The seminar was chaired by Mr Inge Ovesen, Director of the Nordic Cooperation on Disability. For more details concerning the programme of the seminar see page 6 or On request of the seminar participants the questions meant for the group discussions were debated in one group moderated by Professor Anders Möller (Sweden). Proposals from the seminar participants (on how to follow up the seminar ensuring integration of the Universal design concept into development policies and on further cooperation between Lithuania and the Nordic countries aimed at achieving full accessibility of the society for all citizens) N Area Suggested activities 1. Competence and experience exchange between civil servants working with disability policy in general and with issues concerning improving accessibility of society in particular at the national level within the country and abroad. 1. To bring up discussions with the Lithuanian Government on appointing one of the ministries (e.g. the Ministry of the Environment or the Ministry of Social Security and Labour) as the coordinating body for all activities aimed at improving accessibility of the society for all citizens. 2. To arrange a co-financed study trip for the civil servants employed by that ministry to the Norwegian Ministry of the Environment and the Ministry of Social Inclusion and Labour that coordinate the activities within the Government Action Plan for 4

5 increased accessibility for persons with disabilities. Plan for Universal design in key areas of society The Ministry of the Environment in Norway should take the initiative of establishing and developing close contacts with the corresponding ministry in Lithuania focused on working out and implementation of legislation aimed at improving accessibility of society for all. 4. To organise a study trip (co-financed) for civil servants working at development of legislative documents on disability and accessibility in Lithuanian ministries to the corresponding ministries in the Nordic countries; 5. To encourage the Lithuanian Government to translate the Council of Europe Report Achieving full participation through Universal design into Lithuanian and publish it on one of the ministries homepage. 2. Raising awareness of Universal design (for general public, civil servants, politicians, etc.), competence development in the area, changing of people s attitude towards persons with disabilities and their participation in community life. 1. To encourage the Ministry of Education and Science to working out a strategy on introducing Universal design principles into curricula of occupations working with built environments, product development, services (transport, education, culture, etc.); 2. To start discussions with educational institutions aimed at including lectures/seminars in Universal design into the curricula of the existing programmes. 3. To encourage higher educational institutions to more intensive cooperation with Nordic universities and university colleges on developing and offering lectures / courses / seminars / workshops on Universal design; 4. To stimulate higher educational institutions in Lithuania to pay more attention to accessibility issues and to develop action plans on improving accessibility to both buildings and learning materials; 5. To assist in establishing a contact between the Nordic Council on Disability Policy s Network on Education and Training Issues and the Lithuanian Ministry of Education and Science as well as the Lithuanian universities; 6. To arrange courses in Universal design for the employed in the sphere of education and education management; 7. To bring up discussion with all interested parties on how to create a range of courses in Universal design for people having a higher education and employed in various spheres; 8. To discuss with the Nordic School of Public Health the possibility of offering both distance and campus courses in Universal design in English; To bring up discussion on how participation of Lithuanian participants can be financed. 9. To invite Lithuanian politicians, user organisations as well as branch specialists to relevant conferences/activities in the Nordic countries. The participants of the seminar were encouraged to more actively use the programmes of the Nordic Council of Ministers that provide an extra opportunity for the target groups to start/develop cooperation with the Nordic and Baltic countries and competence building: 5

6 The Civil Servants Exchange Programme ( The Support Programme for NGO Cooperation among the Nordic and Baltic Countries ( The Nordic Council of Ministers' Funding Programme for NGOs in the Baltic Sea Region ( Programme of the seminars (with details) Attachment 1 The plenary session of both seminars was almost identical. 1. Olav Rand Bringa presented the tendencies that characterise the attitude of the European society to people with disabilities and mainstreaming of disability issues (that implies participation of practically all ministries) as the key approach. O. Rand Bringa referred the seminar participants to the documents specifying the measures to be taken to improve accessibility of people with disabilities to environments, services and products: The UN Convention on the Protection and Promotion of the Rights and Dignity of Persons with Disabilities adopted in December 2006 and expected to be ratified in the spring of 2007; The Council of Europe Action Plan to promote the rights and full participation of people with disabilities in society: improving the quality of life of people with disabilities in Europe ; The Council of Europe Resolution on the introduction of the principles of universal design into the curricula of all occupations working on the built environment ( Tomar Resolution ); The Nordic Strategy for Sustainable Development New Bearings for the Nordic Countries ; 2. Mr. Bringa continued with the presentation of the Council of Europe Report Achieving full participation through Universal Design that describes the Universal design strategy in detail. The report was adopted by the Committee of Ministers within Partial Agreement in the Social and Public health Field in December The Report invites member states: to promote full participation for all individuals regardless of age, abilities or cultural background, including people with disabilities in community life by ensuring access to and usability of all aspects of society, including built environments, transport, products and goods, information, public service, education, employment and care. to implement Universal design as a strategy to ensure equal and democratic rights in society for all citizens. The governments of the member states are encouraged: to adopt a coordinated, harmonised and intersectorial approach to the Universal Design concept and to decide upon plans for improvements of accessibility; to coordinate on the national level activities of key actors; to introduce and implement legislative measures and provisions in order to provide a basic framework for implementation mechanisms. The Council of Europe Resolution on Universal Design is planned to be adopted in Inge Ovesen presented the work that is being done by the Nordic Council on Disability Policy and the Nordic Cooperation on Disability to improve accessibility for people with disabilities to all spheres of life (education, transport, culture, labour market, etc.) The speaker described the three parts of the Nordic Council of Ministers Action Plan Design for All A Nordic Programme for Action: The overall strategy with the focus on mainstreaming, permanent attention to accessibility issues reflected in funding; The information strategy targeted at raising awareness and training of the personnel; The actions to be taken to provide easier access to Nordic institutions, activities and information. 6

7 4. Einar Lund (The Norwegian Ministry of the Environment) (in Tallinn) and Georg Antonsen (The Norwegian Ministry of Social Inclusion and Labour) (in Vilnius) presented one of the examples of how Universal Design could become a national strategy. They spoke about the Government Action Plan for increased accessibility for persons with disabilities that implied 124 obstacles relating to accessibility to transport, housing and buildings, outdoor areas, information, products, etc. that should be eliminated in Norway. Tallinn: 1. Peeter Tiks from the Estonian Ministry of Transport and Communications presented the Strategy on transport development in Estonia ( ) that took the principles of Universal Design into consideration. The Strategy was adopted in November 2006 and implies that the transport system should be developed in 3 directions. Meeting the needs of users is one of them. 2. Monika Sarapuu from the Estonian Ministry of Social Affairs informed the seminar participants about the new strategy on disability policy that the Ministry commissioned by the Government is preparing. Ms Sarapuu pointed out the importance of spreading information about Universal Design in Estonia and the necessity of joint actions of the authorities, user organisations, industry so that everyone can benefit from that. Vilnius: 1. Dangyras Zukauskas, Head of Design Standardization Division, Department of Housing and Construction, Lithuanian Ministry of the Environment presented the country s legislation (building and housing) aimed at improving accessibility of the society for all citizens. 2. Gražina Krupovnickienė, Information Society Development Committee under the Government of the Republic of Lithuania spoke about the Lithuanian legislation targeted at better accessibility to information and information technologies and the experience of adaptation of IT to the needs of people with disabilities. Contact information: Inge Ovesen, Nordic Cooperation on Disability, Director (inge.ovesen@nsh.se) Marianne Smedegaard, Nordic Cooperation on Disability, Project Manager (Marianne.smedegaard@nsh.se) Max Petzold, Nordic School of Public Health, Senior Lecturer, Project Leader, (max@nhv.se) Tanja Johansson, Nordic School of Public Health, Project Assistant (tanja@nhv.se) 7