India takes strides to make world heritage sites accessible on this World Tourism Day

Dear colleagues,

United Nations World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO) has been celebrating the World Tourism Day (WTD) on September 27 since the year 1980. The statue of UNWTO was adopted on 27th September 1970 which is considered as a milestone in global tourism. 

WTD is celebrated every year to raise awareness on the role of tourism within the international community and to demonstrate how it affects social, cultural, political and economic values worldwide. Universal Access in Tourism (UAT) responds to Article 2.2 of the UNWTO’s Global Code of Ethics for Tourism which states: “Tourism activities should respect the equality of men and women in that they should promote human rights and, more particularly, the individual rights of the most vulnerable groups, notably children, the elderly, the handicapped, ethnic minorities and indigenous people.”

UNWTO has decided to have the theme of #WTD2016 as Tourism for All - Promoting Universal Accessibility. The celebration of the World Tourism Day 2016 under the above theme comes at an encouraging time for international tourism as more political decision makers and the tourism industry are advocating for tourism for all, a tourism which can be enjoyed equally by everybody, regardless of one’s age or abilities. The event seeks to address global challenges outlined in the United Nations Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and to highlight the contribution the tourism sector can make in reaching these goals.

Reiterating the need of accessibility for all, the United Nations Secretary-General, Ban Ki-Moon, in his official message on World Tourism Day said, "Everyone has the right to access leisure and tourism services on an equal basis. Yet one billion people around the world living with disability, along with young children, seniors and persons with other access requirement, face obstacles in accessing fundamentals of travel such as clear and reliable information, efficient transportation and public services, and a physical environment that is easy to navigate. Even with modern technologies, those with visual, hearing, mobility or cognitive impairments are being left behind in many tourism destinations." 

India has 32 UNESCO recognised World Heritage Sites (WHS), which generate important revenues due to the large numbers of both domestic and international tourists. In the recent years, India has been focusing on making its tourism products and services accessible to all particularly the tourists with disabilities, seniors, children & women. Archaeological Survey of India is partnering with non-profits & other stakeholders to ensure that sensitive cultural monuments are adapted without damaging the unique heritage character of the monument yet, these become visitable by all on an equal basis with others. Of these, WHS like Qutb Minar & Red Fort in Delhi and Fatehpur Sikri in Agra have won National Tourism Awards for being made accessible  & disabled friendly in the past few years. Some other monuments are in the process. 

Though the pace of enhancing accessibility in tourism products is not as per the rising aspirations of the stakeholders, however the nation is on right track.  

Govt. of India under its Accessible India Campaign in partnership with Archaeological Survey of India, Ministry of Culture is planing to make major world heritage sites/ monuments accessible within a time bound manner, though the ASI have completed access improvements at some very promising projects on monuments under Delhi & Agra Circles. However, it needs to speed up the work. This is not just important to meet the legal mandate under the Persons with Disabilities Act 1995, UN Convention on the rights of persons with disabilities (UN CRPD) but also to attract a huge chunk of the section of potential tourists  that has some or the other form of disability. Many countries have achieved remarkable access improvements while India is still struggling due to inherent challenges. But there is hope - a hope for better accessibility at tourism sites so that persons with disabilities could also enjoy their rights to recreation, leisure and culture on an equal basis with others as enshrined in Article 30 of the CRPD.

On this World Tourism Day, we commit ourselves to make Indian Tourism sites & services welcoming to all with a greater vigour.

Smart Cities missing out on Accessibility & Inclusivity

Smart Cities missing out on Accessibility and Inclusivity

“While the entire smart cities (project) is data- driven project, there is no data on accessibility. Since there is no data, there is very less likelihood of including it into the indicators," said, Subhash Chandra Vashishth

Express News Service, Ahmedabad  28th Aug 2016

Leading experts from various sectors batted for the government to have more accessibility and inclusivity indicators in the Smart Cities Mission at the National Conclave on Universal Design & Accessibility (UD &A) in Smart Cities, organised by the Indian Institute of Management-Ahmedabad Saturday.

Speaking on the sidelines of the conclave, Subhash Chandra Vashishth, lawyer and founder of CABE, said, “While the entire smart cities (project) is data- driven project, there is no data on accessibility. Since there is no data, there is very less likelihood of including it into the indicators. Accessibility is actually still not on the agenda of smart cities, that’s what we have seen in our experience. It’s on automation, on getting smart technology — but not planning the environment keeping the last link — the weakest and most vulnerable person in mind. Unless that happens, this is not sustainable and we may have to end up redoing it in the future. So far we have been looking at accessibility as a charity and talking in terms of percentages, but we have not been benchmarking it.” He added that accessibility reforms will be brought in with the NBC (National Building Code) 2016.

“The IT infrastructure currently employed in corporates and banks etc that is usable by mainstream needs to be usable by all, which is where the gap really lies. For example, if you use a software in a bank, its usability by a blind person is not taken into consideration. And what it leads to is that no blind person is then placeable in that bank. Secondly, there are certain key building blocks for IT infrastructure and accessibility. One of them is this text to speech technology and it doesn’t work for us in Indian languages despite India becoming an IT hub of the world. Lots of research is happening through labs, but different models need to be brought in,” said Dipendra Manocha, managing trustee, Saksham Trust.

“The entire framework for smart cities is looking at how to provide IT infrastructure that is smarter, but who are the people going to use it? Especially children, old people, women etc, and people with disabilities who are not that smart. People creating these smart cities should also look at what unsmart people we are planning for in terms of programme, plan, delivery accessibility and usage. The smart cities mission misses out on the accessibility and inclusivity bit as many people who are not IT savvy, economically backward,” said Anjlee Agarwal, executive director, Samarthyam.

Source: Indian Express

CABE contributed to the Universal Design Conclave & Accessibility Conclave at IIMA on 27 Aug 2016

Conclave Welcome Banner

Dear Colleagues,

The Indian Institute of Management-Ahmedabad (IIMA) organised a Conclave titled "National Conclave on Universal Design and Accessibility, Smart Cities & Digital India" on August 27, 2016 at PP Gupta Auditorium, IMDC, New Campus, Indian Institute of Management(IIMA), Vastrapur, Ahmedabad, Gujarat, India.

This conclave was an initiative to generate awareness about the concept of "Accessibility or Design for All" which focuses on designing buildings, products and environments that are inherently accessible to people with disabilities, older people and also people without disabilities. It was organised in co-operation with the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment, Government of India, and with Blind People’s Association (BPA), as research partners. The Conclave was very well moderated by Prof. Ashis Jalote Parmar, an information architect & design thinker, one of the dynamic  & able professors that IIMA has on its rolls.

Mr. Subhash Chandra Vashishth, Advocate & Founder - CABE was also invited among other expert speakers in this august conclave to share his experiences & speak on "How universal design in smart cities/ habitat can address disability rights?" Visit here for programme schedule on IIMA website and here for the  UD Conclave Brochure in PDF. 

Mr. Subhash Chandra Vashishth with Dr. Ashis Jalote Parmar

Mr. Subhash Chandra Vashishth speaking at the Conclave

During his talk, Mr. Vashishth stressed that he personally preferred the term 'smart habitat' to 'smart cities' as habitat is all inclusive term including all forms of human habitation and not just cities. He shared with examples how concept of smart habitat was necessary  to realise the disability rights. Indicating the systemic lacunae in the "smart cities" concept, he emphasised  how vulnerable persons with disabilities, elders & those with other diversity would be rendered as the smart cities was a data driven project. The indicators of a smart cities that most cities will follow are based on the data available while there is no virtual data available on accessibility of built environment or services as of now. Thus it was most likely that accessibility requirements do not form part of smart city indicators. The Govt. of India even doesn't have a clear and specific picture of the number of persons with disabilities in the country. 

Mr. Subhash Chandra Vashishth taking questions of participants

Mr. Vashishth also shared that while Accessible India Campaign was a very good initiative of Hon'ble Prime Minister Sh. Narendra Bhai Modi and that it has brought focus back to the basic accessibility challenges facing the nation, its reach is still limited to cities that too only a certain number of public buildings. Rural India is still beyond reach of the campaign and we all know over 65% of population resides in villages which includes a significant population of elders & those with disabilities. 

He also expressed that with over-emphasis on the technology in the smart cities, the "compassion" has taken a back seat. He advocated "Smart & Compassionate Habitats" instead of "Smart Cities" as Cities left out so many Indians from reaping the fruits of development  and it was also a cause of lop-sided development & reason for mass exodus of rural population to cities & suburbs leading to socioeconomic, psychological & medical complexities.

"Accessibility is actually still not on the agenda of smart cities, that’s what we have seen in our experience. It’s on automation, on getting smart technology — but not planning the environment keeping the last link — the weakest and most vulnerable person in mind. Unless that happens, it will not be sustainable and we may have to end up redoing it in the future in form of retrofitting. So far we have been looking at accessibility as a charity, add-ons and talking in terms of percentages, but we have not been bench-marking it.” he said.

He raised concern on the huge gap between the legal requirements & actual compliance when it came to accessibility of buildings, transport infrastructure, services, websites & ICT infrastructure. He stressed that systemic changes were needed to capture the data on accessibility so that it could be reflected in the budgetary plans & schemes and in the 100 smart cities that India is poised to achieve. He added that new revisions brought out by the Bureau of Indian Standards in the National Building Code 2016- wherein he authored the entire chapter on accessibility provisions- contain comprehensive requirements on Accessibility based on Universal Design.

Other important speakers included Senior representatives from Accessible India Campaign (Ministry of Social Justice & Empowerment), Skill India, Digital India (Ministry of Electronics & Information Technology), Municipal Commissioner Ahmadabad, Mastek India, Centre for Internet & Society- Bangalore, Saksham- New Delhi, Samarthyam- New Delhi, School of Planning & Architecture, Bhopal etc. The participants included design professionals, architects, engineers, academicians from National Institute of Design, DPOs, Govt. Officials from ULBs & Smart City Project & other stakeholders.

Here are some more pictures from the Conclave.

Mr. Deepinder Singh, Head Strategy Digital India, Speaking

Mr. Sanjay Singh, Under Secy, Accessible India, speaking

Dr. Parmar introducing Dr. Rachna Khare, SPA Bhopal

Municipal Commissioner Ahmadabad speaking

Mr. Vashishth with other speakers

Mr. Kumar Manish, Founder Urban Voices, raising a query

Conclave Hall at IIMA full of participants

Indian Case study by CABE finds a place in 6 Best Practices included in UNWTO's Theme Brochure for World Tourism Day 2016

Dear Colleagues,

To spread the word of both the importance and immense benefits universal accessibility has and can bring to society at large and to mark the theme of the World Tourism Day 2016 on 27th September 2016, the UNWTO (World Tourism Organisation) has released this brochure titled “Tourism for All - Promoting Universal Accessibility”. 

It contains six short case studies highlighting good practices in the Accessible Tourism supply chain selected from all over the world and I am proud to share that the first case study is from India contributed by CABE Foundation, based on the wonderful work that civil society organisations & ASI did together. Following are the six case studies:

1. Accessible Heritage Tourism: Best Practices of Universal Accessibility in India: Adapting sensitive cultural monuments to enable all visitors to enjoy cultural heritage sites;
2. Exhibition of 3-D copies of Works of Art from the Prado Museum's Collection, Spain: Use of new technologies to make art accessible for visitors with visual impairments;
3. Everyone Belongs Outside: Push to Open Nature & the Alberta Parks Inclusion Plan, Canada: Inclusion of often-excluded groups of visitors, such as persons with reduced mobility and learning difficulties, in outdoor environments;
4. Barrier-free Tour Center, Japan: Application of accessibility-improvement measures and Universal Design to achieve access in urban planning and buildings through advocacy groups working with public and private sector;
5. Lonely Planet Accessible Travel Guide: Availability of accessibility information; and
6. T-GUIDE: Guiding Visitors with Learning Difficulties: Vocational training course on guiding visitors with intellectual impairments or learning difficulties at cultural heritage sites.

The examples brought out in this brochure provide a small sample of how world is proactively devising accessibility solutions to bring home the point that Tourism is for every one and should thus include each one of us irrespective of one's age, ability or other diversity. 

The brochure is intended for the "new" audiences - both destinations and businesses to learn & develop an understanding of Accessible  & Inclusive Tourism during the UNWTOs' World Tourism Day celebrations in September 27, 2016. Once the idea reaches the businesses & destination managers that making tourism accessible opens it to all and brings in the economics as well, there is no dearth of ideas, guidance, know-how on making accessible tourism as part of every tourism experience. 

Access here a copy of the Brochure in portable document format (PDF). 

Year: 2016, Publisher: World Tourism Organization (UNWTO)

About World Tourism Day

Ever since its inception, World Tourism Day is celebrated on 27 September to foster awareness among the international community of the importance of tourism and its social, cultural, political and economic value. As the official day set aside in the United Nations Calendar the celebration seeks to highlight tourism's potential to contribute to reaching the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), addressing some of the most pressing challenges society is faced with today.

Tweet with hashtags #tourism4all #WTD2016 #CABEIndia #CABEFoundation #UNWTO

Singapore BCA's Universal Design Mark 2016 Award for Inclusive Design to 25 projects

Dear colleagues,

The Housing Board Project SkyVille@Dawson has bagged  the Singapore's Building & Construction Authority's (BCA) highest award for inclusive design.

The housing estate in Dawson Road is one of three Platinum winners of the BCA Universal Design Mark 2016, and among 25 total winners that range from residential projects to malls and parks.

The housing project has many Universal Design & User Friendly features from ramps incorporated into main routes around the estate to the large light switches that are easy to reach within flats.

"Universal design is about addressing the needs of as many people as possible, including persons with disabilities and the elderly," said BCA's acting group director for building plan and management, Mr Teo Orh Hai.

This includes physical features such as ramps and corridors wide enough for wheelchairs, as well as facilities catering to all ages, such as playgrounds that incorporate fitness facilities for older adults.

Universal design also extends to subtler touches such as large, clear signs to help people find their way around, sheltered walkways and adequate seating.

For instance, at Bedok Mall and Bedok Residences - a Gold Plus winner - a large canopy links various forms of transport, from the MRT station and bus interchange to bicycle parking. Plenty of seating is also available throughout the integrated mall and private apartments, giving shoppers and residents places to rest.

Winners received their awards at the annual BCA Awards ceremony on May 26, 2016 at Resorts World Sentosa.

Brief about BCA's Universal Design Awards

To encourage of Universal Design, the BCA initiated the annual BCA UD Awards in 2007 to accord recognition to stakeholders for incorporating user-friendly features in their developments. The BCA UD Awards was replaced by the BCA UD Mark certification scheme in October 2012. 

About the BCA UD Mark Certification Scheme

The BCA UD Mark is a voluntary certification scheme launched in October 2012 as an initiative to raise the bar on UD adoption in developments.  Since its inception, 94 awards had been given out to deserving projects. 

This initiative accords recognition to developments and stakeholders that adopt a user-centric philosophy in their design, operations and maintenance. It also aims to raise greater public awareness towards user-friendly buildings. This scheme allows assessment of projects at design stage, thereby, facilitating the incorporation of UD principles from the onset of project development.

A built development is awarded a display plaque, indicating one of the four UD Mark ratings: Certified, Gold, GoldPLUS or Platinum. For on-going projects, UD Mark ratings is determined based on design and indicated as Certified (design), Gold (design) or GoldPLUS(design). 

Benefits of the UD Mark

The BCA UD Mark identifies and distinguishes developments that have gone beyond meeting minimum standards. With the impending silver tsunami, the recognition of best practices in enhancing accessibility and user-friendliness within the development provides the following benefits:

• Improves competitiveness by meeting the varying needs of diverse user groups
• Increase in the number of potential visitors to the development, thereby, generating greater sales and revenue
• Generates a positive effect on the corporate image

Source: Straitstimes 

More about SkyVille's housing project : First batch of SkyVille at Dawson residents receive their keys 

3rd Batch of Access Auditor Training at National CPWD Academy by CABE (11-13 Apr 2016)

Dear colleagues,

Batch III - Training Course on Accessible India Campaign

As part of Accessible India Campaign, National CPWD Academy, Ghaziabad, being a nodal agency for capacity development of stakeholders on access audits of built environment, is conducting Basic Access Auditor course - a three day full time residential programme for in-service architects and engineers of CPWD posted at  different locations in India. CABE Foundation is leading this training program as an Expert Agency. The training was led by Mr. Subhash Chandra Vashishth, Director and Principal Consultant - Accessibility and Universal Design at CABE Foundation.  

Group I of Batch 3 conducting access audit indicating their group

In this series, the IIIrd batch of 3 day training was held during 11 April 2016 to 13 April 2016 at National CPWD Academy, Ghaziabad under the aegis of CABE Foundation. A total of 47 architects and engineers of CPWD attended and successfully completed the Basic Access Auditor Course.

Group III of Batch 3 conducting access audit indicating their group

The participants were trained and examined on not just the Space Standards on Barrier Free Environment and Accessibility based on Universal Design but also exposed to practical access audit practice and report making. 

The trained Basic Access Auditors would be expected to conduct access audit of govt buildings -both Central Govt and State Govt in their region where they are posted and make them accessible as per the mandate of Accessible India Campaign of Department of Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities.

A group of Trainees after the Physical Access Audit

Trainees appearing in the Written Assessment Test post the Access Audit Training

Group Photo of Batch III Trainees at National CPWD Academy.
This photo is also available in higher resolution PDF File on CPWD Website link: http://cpwd.gov.in/WriteReadData/training_cir/20749.pdf

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CABE conducts 3-day Access Auditor Training for CPWD (2nd Batch) 7-9 Apr 16

Dear colleagues,

Batch II of Access Audit Training

As part of Accessible India Campaign, National CPWD Academy has been designated to be the nodal agency to conduct capacity development training on access audits of built environment.

Mr. Subhash Chandra Vashishth, Founder CABE (extreme left)
with Ms. Papiya Sarkar, Chief Architect, DMRC (extreme right),
Mr. Satish  Kumar, EE, Course Coordinator, (2nd from rt.)
Mr. Shivam Awasthi, Volunteer-CABE (3d from right) & EE Goa

In a time bound manner CPWD will train it's all engineers and architects on the Harmonized Guidelines and Space Standards on Barrier Free Environment for Elderly & Persons with Disabilities and National Building Code of India.

In this series, the National CPWD Academy, Ghaziabad under the aegis of CABE, conducted a three day full time residential training course leading to a Basic Access Auditor Certificate during 07 April to 09 April 2016.

This was the second batch of Basic Access Auditors. The course was attended and successfully completed by 29 architects and engineers of CPWD currently posted at different locations in India.

Group I of Batch II doing Access Audit

The course included orientation to legal and policy framework on accessibility in India; Use of right terminology and disability etiquette; introduction to the Indian Codes & Guidelines on accessibility; Simulation and User derived space standards, Sample Access audit of Built Infrastructure followed by a written test and practical exposure to the trainees.

Group II of Batch II doing Access Audit

The trainees were also exposed to the access audit process and putting together technical access audit reports highlighting the barriers to accessibility and solutions to overcome them followed by group presentations.  

The trained Basic Access Auditors would be expected to conduct access audit of govt buildings -both Central Govt and State Govt in their area and make them accessible as per the mandate of Accessible India Campaign of Department of Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities.

Visit us for regular updates on Facebook Page:  CABE India. Stay tuned!

Launch of CABE- Centre for Accessibility in Built Environment, India

Dear colleagues, 

This blog is to share the updates on the activities of CABE Foundation (Centre for Accessibility in Built Environment Foundation), India and to disseminate the latest developments in the field of Accessibility and Universal Design. 

CABE Foundation was established on 01 April 2016 as an advocacy, research and capacity building non profit organisation to further the object of Accessibility in the built environment, transportation systems and Infrastructure and enhance mobility for all for a liveable habitat.

Accessible India Campaign initiated by our Hon'ble Prime Minister of India on 03rd December 2015, being coordinated by Department of Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities is a shot in arm for the objective of an inclusive India and CABE  Foundation fully supports it and has started contributing to the capacity building initiatives.

We welcome your thoughts and suggestions at info@cabefoundation.com.  Please do visit  & like our Facebook Page  and follow us on Twitter.