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AccessibleEU: Building community, connecting stakeholders

7 hands are placed on top of each other as a symbol for networking and collaboration. The background is a light wooden floor with the AccessibleEU logo in the bottom right of the visual.

Register for Accessible EU's European networking event on 7 November to learn from, and connect with, key actors in accessibility.

AccessibleEU, relying on the in-depth knowledge of its network of National Experts, aims to strengthen contacts and connections between key players and main entities, both public, private, and non-profit, to foster common interests. With this, on 7th November, AccessibleEU will host a hybrid European networking event at Fundacion ONCE, Madrid, entitled 'AccessibleEU: Building community, connecting stakeholders'.

Register now

Objectives
  • To create a network that ensures the connection between all parties involved in accessibility across all sectors, and promotes the creation of alliances for the strategic development of actions in public-private collaborative networks that promote accessibility in environments, products, and services.
  • To facilitate a structured dialogue with leaders of industry sectors, representatives of essential public administrations and civil society involved in accessibility, and universities and professional associations to identify specific capacity-building and support needs.
  • To include all accessibility professionals at institutional and business levels and promote their participation to foster take-up of knowledge, skills and competences within the community, sharing successful experiences and methodologies for addressing the challenges they have faced.
  • To encourage dialogue on measures to enable the creation of incentives for the accelerated implementation of accessibility and innovation solutions in all EU countries in a scaled and weighted manner, fostering equitable engagement and promoting partnerships between stakeholders at a trans-European level.
  • To identify and promote commitment to best practices, supporting their replicability as a mechanism for creating synergies among all stakeholders, supporting their adoption and development over time as an enrichment strategy for all parties, and their dissemination to achieve a replicable effect in all countries.
Target audience

Policymakers, organisations, representatives of members of civil society, professional associations, providers.

Agenda

Venue: Fundacion ONCE, Madrid

Format: Hybrid

9:30 – 10:00

Institutional welcome

  • European Commission
  • Grupo Social Once
  • Comité Español de Representantes de Personas con Discapacidad (CERMI)
  • Gobierno de España
 

10:00 – 10:30

Achievements in the First Year of AccessibleEU

  • European Commission Inmaculada Placencia
  • AccessibleEU Jesús Hernández
 

10:30 – 11:30

Panel 1: Industry

  • Mª Ángeles Asenjo, Vice-President, FIEC (European Construction Industry Federation)
  • Cristina Lumbreras,Technical Director, EENA (The European Emergency Number Association)
  • Vera Winthagen, NEB(New European Bauhaus)

Chair: Victor Calvo-Sotelo, General Director, DigitalES

11:30 – 12:00

Coffee break

12:00 – 13:00

Panel 2: Accessibility networks

  • Evert-Jean Hoogerwerf,EASPD (European Association of Service Providers for Persons with Disabilities)
  • Pepetto di Bucchianico,EIDD (Design for All Europe)
  • Wilfried Kainz,Head of Research, Zero Project(ESSL Foundation)
  • Pedro Encarnaçao,President-elect, AAATE (Association for the Advancement of Assistive Technology in Europe)

Chair: Ivor Ambrose,Managing Director,ENAT (European Network for Accessible Tourism)

13:00 – 14:00

Panel 3: Education and Professional Associations

  • Luis Fernández Sanz, CEPIS(The Council of European Professional Informatics Societies)
  • Fionnuala Rogerson, UIA(International Union of Architects)
  • Lorenzo Imbesi, CUMULUS(The Global Association of Art and Design Education and Research)

Chair: Ángela Baldellou,Director Observatorio 2030, CSCAE (Consejo Superior de Colegios de Arquitectos de España)

14:00 – 15:30

Coffee break

15:30 – 16:30

Panel 4: Civil Society

  • Pilar Villarino, Executive Director, CERMI (Comité Español de Representantes de Personas con Discapacidad)
  • Chiara Giovannini, ANEC(The European consumer voice in standardisation)

Chair: Alejandro Moledo, Deputy Director & Head of Policy, EDF (European Disability Forum)

16:30 – 17:30

Panel 5: Public Administrations

  • Sergi Morera Vizcaíno,Chair of the Eurocities Barrier-free City, EUROCITIES
  • Noelia Cuenca,Accessibility General Director, Ayuntamiento de Madrid
  • Detlev Fischer,Managing Director, DIAS GmbH

Chair: Gerald M. Craddock, Chief Officer, CEUD (Centre for Excellence in Universal Design)

17:30

Closing remarks

  • Jesús Hernández,Director European Accessibility Resource Centre, AccessibleEU