Presentation of the ‘Accessible Classroom’ project, a pioneering initiative in Spain to spread awareness on accessibility

The Juan-Miguel Villar Mir Foundation, Fundación Laboral de la Construcción and the Konecta Foundation presented the ‘Aula Accesible’ project (Accessible Classroom), an initiative with the main theme of “Building an environment for everyone,” and the mission of spreading specialized knowledge and awareness of the importance of universal accessibility among professionals in different related fields throughout Spain, beginning in the Community of Madrid.

The presentation took place at the CosmoCaixa Madrid Museum in Alcobendas in a ceremony chaired by the Regional Minister of Social Affairs of the Community of Madrid, Salvador Victoria, who was accompanied by the Mayor of Alcobendas, Ignacio García de Vinuesa, the Secretary General of the Juan-Miguel Villar Mir Foundation, Julio Iglesias de Ussel, the Vice Chairman of the Konecta Foundation, Mariano Aísa Gómez, and the Director General of Fundación Laboral de la Construcción, Enrique Corral Álvarez.

All present praised the ‘Accessible Classroom’ initiative and the importance of assuring accessibility, because, as explained by Mariano Aísa, “a society that strives to achieve the best possible living conditions for people is not fully justified if unless society also works to integrate people with disabilities. “Accessibility should not be for the majority, but rather for everyone,” added the Konecta Foundation Vice Chairman.

In this same vein, the Regional Minister of Social Affairs of the Community of Madrid commented that “accessibility should be a communal effort to educate and raise awareness and to make sure no one is discriminated against.” Salvador Victoria noted that in Madrid “there are 269,000 people living with disabilities” and stressed that accessibility not only affects them but also “mothers with baby carriages and our elders.” Moreover, the government representative added, “when a person has a disability, any barrier can be an abyss.”

The Mayor of Alcobendas highlighted that, in addition to the importance of such initiatives “we have to raise awareness among architects and others involved in the design and construction of buildings and the government must be the first to internalize the value of accessibility when constructing public buildings. ” He gave the example of the barrier removal program carried out in the 108 public buildings existing in Alcobendas.

The ‘Accessible Classroom’ Project

The ‘Aula Accesible’ project, as it is known in Spanish, emerged from the social commitment of the three sponsoring foundations to improve the quality of life of people with physical, sensory and intellectual disabilities. It was born with the mission to raise awareness, train and advise groups with the ability to influence the improvement of building environments, products and services, from the point of view of universal accessibility and design for everyone.

The activities developed by the projects include a mobile classroom: a tractor-trailer equipped with two classrooms with capacity for 35 people, which, under the theme “Building an environment for everyone”, will conduct this pioneering initiative in this field in Spain.

The first activities will be held in the Community of Madrid during 2011, over a series of previously planned technical conferences. After this first stage, the goal over the next two years is to visit different parts of Spanish territory, becoming a national benchmark in this field.

Planned activities include training sessions, workshops, fieldwork and panel discussions, transferring the knowledge of leading professionals and company best practices to all attendees and designing activities to fit the target audience of the project. There will also be open houses and a toll-free helpline (900 84 12 59), operating 24 hours a day for technical consultations, as well as a website (www.aulaaccesible.org) dedicated to informing and advising professionals.

The target audience addressed by ‘Aula Accessible’, to add value in the performance of their functions, is made up of professionals from:

• Companies: property managers and supervisors, general services, procurement, human resources, CSR and other related business areas
• Universities and training centers: Students whose professional activities are conducted in the field of architectural design, urban planning and transport
• Municipalities: technicians and managers to ensure equal opportunities and no discrimination in the buildings within their jurisdiction

The project has the support of CEAPAT (National Reference Centre for Personal Autonomy and Technical Aids), CERMI (Spanish Committee of Representatives of People with Disabilities), Fundación ONCE and Fundación “la Caixa”, which provide their experience and expertise on universal accessibility and design.

Activities in the Community of Madrid

The schedule of activities ‘Aula Accessible’ in the Community of Madrid in 2011 is as follows:

• 23 and 26 September: CosmoCaixa Madrid in Alcobendas
• 5 and 6 October: Universidad Alfonso X el Sabio
• 19 and 20 October: Universidad Europea de Madrid
• 2 and 3 November: Municipal Government of Aranjuez
• 16 and 17 November: IFEMA, Campo de las Naciones
• 30 November and 1 December: Municipal Government of Buitrago de Lozoya

About the promoting foundations

Fundación Juan-Miguel Villar Mir. The mission of this Foundation is to improve the quality of life of Spanish society in all its forms and manifestations, and social and humanitarian action in all its aspects, such as social inclusion and employment of people with disabilities, development cooperation, volunteering and caring for people at risk of exclusion of any kind.

Fundación Laboral de la Construcción. Joint entity created by business and labour organizations in the construction sector, working in the promotion of vocational training, improving safety and health, as well as the professionalism and dignity of employment in the sector.

Konecta Foundation. Acting as a coordinator and operational support for the project, the mission of the Foundation is to support and promote social inclusion and employment of social groups at particular risk of exclusion and promoting, among others, projects to improve accessibility in collaboration with companies and institutions.