Presentation by Ivor Ambrose, Managing Director of ENAT, at the "Accessi Tourisme Simposium. Building Accessible Destinations", Autonomous University of Barcelona, Spain.
This Guide presents a selection of 19 destinations which offer a full range of adapted tourist resources so that everyone has the chance to enjoy Catalonia's important cultural heritage, its impressive landscapes, its rich gastronomy, and even sporting activities.
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.
The Mediate Project aims to establish a common European methodology for measuring accessibility. This will lead to the development of a self-assessment tool that can be used by policy makers to identify areas where upgrading will improve the accessibility of public transport in their city. In this way, Mediate will contribute to the provision of better and easier access for all.
The ETCAATS project has two main aims: 1). to develop an online training course in accessible tourism from existing innovative content selected from previous Swedish work and supplemented with other international training materials; and 2). to develop a ‘Road map’ for an EU certification system for the area of accessible tourism vocational training, in line with the European Qualifications Framework. The target groups for the course include employers and personnel in the tourism industry.
The main goal of the ATHENA project is the creation of conditions and tools for human resources development and employment in the accessible tourism sector in the Czech Republic. This will be achieved by transnational cooperation with ENAT and exchange of experience and good practice with European countries.
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.
The EU funded MEDIATE project aims to establish a common European methodology for measuring accessibility to public transport. In order to create a good practice guide, towns and cities are asked to fill in a questionnaire if they believe that they have examples of good practice. The data they provide will form the basis of the Guide.
Over 30 of the presentations and speeches given at the 2nd ENAT International Congress in Vienna are now available for downloading. They include keynote addresses, workshop reports and case studies from many countries on a variety of subjects.
ENAT and GAATES are pleased to announce the signature of a Memorandum of Understanding. The agreement will pave the way to closer cooperation in the promotion of policies and implementation of projects to enhance the social, economic and cultural participation of people with disabilities and older persons around the globe.