“CITIES FOR ACCESSIBILITY, JOBS and INCLUSION - Breaking down barriers together Conference”
Thu, 18/06/2015 - Fri, 19/06/2015
The “CITIES FOR ACCESSIBILITY, JOBS and INCLUSION - Breaking down barriers together Conference” will take place at Lisbon City Hall on 18-19 June 2015.
Barrier-free cities ensure that everyone, including people with disabilities, the elderly and parents with children can participate in society. From the built environment and transport to public websites accessibility is crucial for the quality of life, and social and labour market inclusion of many residents.
The conference organised jointly by the city of Lisbon, the city of Berlin and EUROCITIES will:
- - Explore the role of accessibility in employment, social inclusion and active ageing.
- - Discuss the economic impact of accessibility, considering on one hand costs of implementing it and on the other its potential for job creation and social and labour market inclusion.
- - Explore the range of roles city authorities can play in implementing accessibility measures and why they are central to the successful implementation of instruments such as the UN Convention of the Rights of People with Disabilities and the upcoming European Accessibility Act.
- - Bring together stakeholders from the EU, national, regional and local levels to discuss how to steer the accessibility agenda together.
Maria Louisa Cabral, Head of Unit for Rights of Persons with Disabilities of the European Commission will speak about the “European Disability Strategy 2010 – 2020: what has been achieved so far and what is ahead” and Mark Priestley from the Academic Network of European Disability Network about “The UNCRPD Convention: what’s behind, what’s ahead?!. Furthermore, several policy workshops will discuss the following questions: How to work together on accessibility between cities, regions, national governments and the EU?, How to implement UNCRPD Convention? And Accessibility – is it just the matter of money?. In the latter, Jesús Hernández Galán, Director of Universal Accessibility at ONCE Foundation will participate in the latter.
To see the full programme click here http://www.eurocities.eu/eurocities/documents/CITIES-FOR-ACCESSIBILITY-JOBS-AND-INCLUSION-agenda-WSPO-9UEUV6
Who will attend: policy makers from the EU, national, regional and local authorities, representatives of civil society and human rights organisations, trade unions, business associations, and research and academia.
- Conference website
