1. Kirsti Pesola, M.Arch., Lic.Tech. ‏ Director, The Accessibility Centre ESKE the Finnish Association of People with Physical Disabilities tel +358 9 613 191 or +358 50 594 2553 kirsti.pesola@invalidiliitto.fi www.invalidiliitto.fi | www.esteeton.fi The Delta Conference 2013Universal Design in the transport sector on the North Calotte Kirkenes, September 16–18, 2013The Nordic Approach to Universal Design

2. Finnish Association of People with Physical Disabilities FPD (Invalidiliitto, Invalidförbundet) • Wasestablished in 1938 • Is a nationaladvocacy and service association • Actswithinthesociety in such a way as • to enableeveryday life to beindependent and fulfilling • for peoplewithphysicaldisabilities • Has155 memberassociations made up of 32.000 individualmembers • Has 2.400 employees (thewhole FPD Group) in • organizationalwork, rehabilitationcentres, trainingcentres, accommodation and supportservices • FPD’sbasicvaluesare • humandignity, justice, courage and fairness

3. The Accessibility Centre ESKE Activities concerning accessibility: • spread out information, knowledge and good practices • coordinate a network for accessibilityactors • find out theneeds for education and produceeducationalmaterial • maintain and updatethewebsitewww.esteeton.fi • consultation (designers, buildingcompanies, investors…) • works in cooperation with other NGOs and other organisations • education and teaching, trainingnewspecialists • rewardinggood public examples togetherwitha.o. the Finnish Association of Architects and the Association of Interior Architects

4. Getting old is universal… • …and it’s natural and it concerns all of us, our physical and mental capacity weakens individually with ageing: we have go-go, slow-go and no-go elderly people • People want to continue living in the way they are used to, as long as possible... • Poor capacity is not only a property of old or disabled people, and it concerns all ages • The problems in one’s moving and acting can be caused by poor environment – poor capacity of an individual is not always the only reason • To keep our ability to act and our physical condition, our body needs to be used; we need to be able to take care of our daily activities

5. Sooner or later – 1 • We lose our vision: we need better lighting, colours and contrasts, and it becomes more difficult to perceive and interpret our environment • We lose our hearing: we need better acoustics and hearing aids • Our muscular forces weaken and we lose our balance: we need handrails and walking aids • We can’t trust our memory • It’s harder and it takes more time to learn new things – but we are willing to do it • It takes more time to react and to make decisions • Our whole body becomes frail/fragile and every falling might affect the rest of our life

6. Sooner or later – 2 • Ourwalkingbecomesslower and ourwalkingdistancesbecomeshorter • We (perhaps) won’tbeable/allowed to drive a car Our home and itscloseenvironment (includingbasicservices) becomemoreimportant Accessibility issues of theenvironmentbecomemoreimportant Webecomedependent on public transport (if it exists and ifweareable to use it) Wemightneedmoretechnical aids morepressure on the quality of public transport

7. Barrier-free, Accessibility, Universal design, Design for All • In principle they mean the same • Accessibility is (or should be) an integrated part of all design and all construction works (buildings, roads, pedestrian streets, products, services, IT…) • Accessibility is only visible when it does not exist • It is important to describe the needs and qualifications, not how it should be done

8. The Nordic approach • Theprinciplesarethesame – differencies in thelegislation • Rising and raisingawareness • Accessibility is seen as a good business in thefuture It concernsequality: • equalpossibilities, equalaccess It concerns: • humanrights, self-esteem and autonomy • money – in manyways • quality and safety • service and maintenance • ourownfuture It is understanding, a way of thinking, attitudes and empathy

9. Accessibility • Is not an opinion– it is a factthatcanbemeasured • Is a largevariety of things: • thatyouunderstandwheretheentrance of thebuilding is • understandablesigns, spaces and details • safelighting and goodcontrasts, goodacoustics, inductionloop • easy-to-usevendingmachines, ATMs and internet • air thatcanbebreathedwithoutcoughing, a runningnose, smartingeyesorwithout a headache • doors, locksorsodabottlesthatcanbeopened, orwashingmachines and stovesthatareeasy to use • food labelsorwashinginstructionsthatareeasy to read • pillsthatdon’tneed to besplit, thatyouget out of thepackage • a handyremotecontrolor a video packageeasy to open…

10. …but it was so cheap…

11. Source: Age and Design

12. Kiitos, tack, takk спасибобольшой Kirsti Pesola, M.Arch., Lic.Tech. ‏ Director, The Accessibility Centre ESKE tel +358 9 613 191 or +358 50 594 2553 kirsti.pesola@invalidiliitto.fi www.invalidiliitto.fi | www.esteeton.fi