Accessibility policy in Finland

Transcription

1 1 Accessibility policy in Finland

2 2 Best practices in accessibility issues Ideas Concepts What is this about? Why should we bother? Technical solutions & norms Innovations Political objectives Ways of action Implementation & resources How shall we get it done? Citizen participation How should it look like in practice? Who should we listen to? How?

3 What is accessibility / Design for All? 3 Minority issue? Civil rights; Equity for "the weak ones"; Diversity; Social sustainability Fulfilling customers needs? Usability; Customer feedback; One customer / citizen group among many (loud or silent?) Good quality of our everyday environment? An environmental issue; Quality issue -> Human-centered design

4 4 Accessibility issues in Finland: Background first time on the political agenda in 1970 s (minority rights) norms and standars: 1980 s -> (first housing and public buildings, later outdoor environment) the great wave of renovation in 1990 s (in housing) -> a good change to solve the accessibility problems too the new Land Use and Building Act 1999: accessibility in a bigger role 2000 s: transportation, streets, roads not only built environment, but also services, information, internet, recreation etc. Design for All as industry, marketing, new products population ageing

5 Population ageing 5 Finland is the "leading land" in Europe in population ageing by 2030, the proportion of 65 years old or older will increase from the present 15 per cent to over 25 per cent Simultanious development: (younger) population concentrates in the bigger cities

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7 7 Legislation & political objectives: Land Use and Building Act "The objective in land use planning is to promote the following, through interactive planning and sufficient assessment of impact: 1) a safe, healthy, pleasant, socially functional living and working environment, which provides for the needs of various population groups, such as children, the elderly and the handicapped...."

8 Cities and towns 8 The biggest cities have carried out accessibility audits / surveys (kartläggningar), smaller municipalities are following: at the moment 40 municipalities out of 444 Auditing: - public buildings - streets, parks, roads - public transport - health care, social services, sports and recreation, cultural services A few cities have an accessibility strategy TOGETHER AROUND 90 OUT OF 444

9 9 Cities and towns -> what has happened to the discovered problems? existing environment: slow improvement - entrances, kerbstones, lifts, placement of public services, organising public transport all the new built environment should be built accessible not yet an integral part of all planning (as e.g. environmental issues)

10 10 Accessible Helsinki "Helsinki will become accessible in terms of movement and activities by The city's public areas and buildings as well as public transport will be made accessible and safe for everybody, e.g. the disabled, the elderly and families with young children"

11 11 Transportation Research and Development Programme for Accessibility ELSA > a key target: to activate municipalities and public transport operators to ensure high-quality public transport The accessibility strategy for the transportation sector published in

12 Winter maintenance a survey of the present situation in 3 cities: how the present practices and quality standards for winter maintenance meet the needs of the elderly and disabled people production of new detailed guidelines for better maintenance services

13 13 Traffic system planning A strategic plan for all the transport infrastructure & related land use Geographical area: province / region / city Prepared in co-operation with different actors: road administration, rail administration, municipalities, province federation etc. How to deal with accessibility here? planning together "the accessibile journey" - a network of accessible public and private services, outdoor areas, routes and transportation services e.g. choosing the most important routes for accessible public transport and accessible routes for pedestrians

14 Joensuu city Traffic system plan: How to define the most important areas for accessibility? 14 The elderly: where? Families with children: where Densely populated areas Public and private services Health care center other Joensuu city centre Hospital Other centres

15 15 Road administration: Accessibility survey / audit Auditing traffic environment in built-up areas the survey is done on the spot, using 13 different survey forms for e.g.: - pedestrian crossings and routes - underpasses - steps - bus stops - rest areas - traffic signs the answers are given on a four-step scale -> marked on a map or summarised otherwise in addition to the survey: users' opinions are collected directly

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23 23 Tourism

24 24 Citizen participation: guarantees the quality of accessibility measures

25 25 Old people auditing traffic safety in their everyday environment in Sweden a major, nation-wide project : Äldre oskyddade trafikanter in Finland pilot projects in two towns: Espoo and Leppävirta pensioners organisations & elderly people s councils together with city technical department the elderly fill in their traffic safety / accessibility problems in the questionnaire the problems are collected and informed to the city technical department / road district / transport operator the elderly also follow and monitor the measures taken problems noticed in Espoo and Leppävirta: too high speeds in residential areas; too high kerbstones at pedestrian crossings; speeding cyclists; too short time for green light for pedestrians 2005 onwards: a continuous model of action

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28 Good experiences 28 multidisciplinarity: combining different types of expertise (technical and social experts together with citizens) Building the new: accessibility does not necessarily lead to extra costs, if it is applied right from the beginning! norms, standards and good examples exist auditing the plans from accessibility point of view Fixing the present: on-the-spot accessibility surveys/ audits citizen participation cheap measures for improving the existing environment: upkeep and maintenance not a "special subject", but integration into the normal everyday work integration with other measures with similar goals: traffic safety; citizen participation processes; policy for the elderly; policy for walking and cycling,

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