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WeCanAccess is a social enterprise dedicated to bringing people together to share experiences, find solutions and demonstrate that accessibility and inclusion are essential for a more economically and socially sustainable future. The organization is a certified social enterprise, a partner of the Global Health Innovation Summit and a champion of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). It believes that disability is not sufficiently taken into account in language learning and that the structure of the education system is not supportive. Using their platform, they aim to build a knowledge base and knowledge-sharing community, where children propose and share their solutions.
They are delighted to announce two initiatives aimed at young people:
1. Every student is an agent of change: online workshops on creating accessible and inclusive urban spaces and housing
Aimed at students aged 13 to 18, these 45-minute sessions will include presentations from the global engineering company Arup, former Paralympic gold medallist Geoff Trappett and writer Steve Wright, Pulitzer Prize nominee and winner of a disability award.
The first session took place on March 22, 2021 and focused on urban planning for accessibility and inclusion. An experienced expert from a global engineering company and “Infrastructure Architect of the Year 2020”, Arup, spoke about the factors to consider when planning cities or open spaces and thinking about the diversity of our communities, to make them accessible to people with different needs.
Some thoughts from David Bara, co-founder and general manager:
“The session went really well. We had three people from Arup who had planned a fantastic activity starting with an inaccessible location, a cinema, and asking participants, who included students and teachers, to make suggestions on how it could be improved. They then used their CAD tool to modify the cinema to adopt the changes suggested by the participants. We ended up with a fully accessible cinema. It was a great activity, enjoyed by everyone, including the Arup team.
Participants came from all over the world, including Ireland, Nigeria and Portugal. Feedback from all participants was very positive. A 17-year-old Portuguese boy, who usually avoids activities in English, attended the whole event and is looking forward to the next one! We're very proud of this achievement and look forward to organizing further events this year and next.
2. WeCanAccess Student Challenge:
WeCanAccess has joined forces with the Disability Review Magazine to challenge university students to write articles aimed at improving inclusion and accessibility. The winning article and author will be published in Disability Review Winter 2021, and all shortlisted articles will be published on the WeCanAccess blog space.
The closing date is September 31, 2021. Competition rules and entry details are available at here.
