This paper draws on the observations of an international college student with an upper socio-economic background from Kenya who, prior to graduate work in the United States, had almost no contact with people with physical disabilities. The paper explores the construction of accessibility and disability on a college campus as viewed from a semiotic perspective through a research project that was conducted with a student with physical disabilities who used a motorized wheel chair. The paper contrasts an initial reaction to the freedom of accessibility the person with disability appears to have in the United States with the reality of a case study of a wheel-chair confined student. The commentary considers how signs of accessibility (such as the ramp sign) operate at three levels: (1) the iconic (signifying access or a way in/out); (2) indexical (as a marker of a society accessible by all citizens, even those with disabilities); and (3) symbolic (as a representation of freedom of movement, convenience, and inclusion). At this third symbolic level, the paper suggests that the ramp, when inconveniently though legally located, represents confinement, inconvenience, restriction of freedom, and a sense of censored access. The paper also examines ways that a person can be "dis-abled" by a culture through denial of a person's abilities or "enabled" and empowered.
Presentation by Ivor Ambrose, Managing Director of ENAT, at the "Accessi Tourisme Simposium. Building Accessible Destinations", Autonomous University of Barcelona, Spain.
Population projections are what-if scenarios that aim to provide information about the likely future size and structure of the population. Eurostat’s population projections convergence scenario is one of several possible population change scenarios based on assumptions for fertility,mortality and migration. The EU27 population is projected to become older with the median age projected to rise from 40.4 years in 2008 to 47.9 years in 2060.
This report provides a description of underlying macroeconomic assumptions and projection methodologies of the age-related expenditure projections for all Member States over the period 2009-2060. On the basis of these underlying assumptions and methodologies, age-related expenditures covering pensions, health care, long-term care, education and unemployment transfers are envisaged to be presented to the ECOFIN Council in May 2009.
With thousands of blogs appearing on the Web every minute, it takes something special to make any single one of them stand out from the crowd. For those interested in research on accessible tourism, Dr. Simon Darcy's new blog on Accessible Tourism Research holds significant promise of making research findings more accessible to everyone. Also, it can help to shape the international agenda of research and development in this growing and diverse field of study.
Participants from 15 Asian-Pacific countries adopted a declaration at a regional United Nations meeting in Japan, laying out 20 recommendations aimed at improving accessibility for persons with disabilities.
A World Appeal for Action! “Let us empower people with disabilities with the right to act!” The UN Committee on the Rights for Persons with Disabilities issues a call to action, whereby governments, organizations, and citizens alike shall work for a renewed recognition of the principles of equality and fairness for all.
New figures released by VisitEngland from the UK Tourism Survey show that overnight trips made by, or accompanied by, someone with a health condition or impairment contributed almost £1bn to the English domestic visitor economy in the first 6 months of the year, accounting for 5.7 million trips in total.
At the 5th European Forum of Social Tourism, which took place in Malaga Spain, from 15 to 17 October, BITS – the International Bureau of Social Tourism and ENAT – the European Network for Accessible Tourism, signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), with a view to establishing closer cooperation between the two associations.
Within the framework of of the European Union's Operational Programme of Territorial Cooperation between Spain, France and Andorra 2007-2013 (Interreg IV A), the project Accessi Tourisme is a triennial project of cross-border cooperation on Accessible Tourism, between the Department of Turisme de Catalonia and its conterparts, the Departmental Committee of Eastern Pyrenees Tourism, and the Elsa Fundació NGO.
