**EDIT:NEW DATES**CPCL Vol 3, no 2. Call for Papers. Design for people’s autonomy. Rights to independent living.

2020-02-11

Dear all,

the present message is to announce the EXTENDED DEADLINE for the Call for Paper titled Design for people’s autonomy. Rights to independent living. for next “CPCL Vol 3, no 2". In light of the current coronavirus emergency, the Scientific Editors and Organizing Committee have decided to postpone the deadline of the Call for Papers to April 30th 2020.

The European Journal of Creative Practices in Cities and Landscapes, vol 3, no 2.

Edited by Valentina Gianfrate, Micaela Antonucci, Francesc Aragall.

Download this call in PDF format.

The 2006 United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, puts in evidence that "an Accessible City is a city able of producing a public programme, services and spaces usable by all kind of people" in the broadest sense possible without the need for adaptation or specialized modifications, without excluding, in some cases, assistance tools for particular groups of people with disabilities where necessary. The contribute of light, material and immaterial infrastructures, enabling technologies and new services, helps the definition of a barrier-free built environment suitable for satisfying the citizen's well-being in an equitable manner.

A progressive and radical change at cultural strategic level has been registered during the last years about accessibility; this paradigm change ultimately implies that accessibility involves all the fields (culture, environmental and urban planning, mobility, health and wellness, research and development, education, etc.) and all levels (local, regional, national, European, global) to achieve an effective widespread.

The European Council from 2007 assumes a more inclusive definition dealing with public space fruition for disabled people ensuring autonomy and social integration, extending at the same time the concept of disability to some categories such as elderly (usually affected by degenerative pathologies), temporary injured person (affected by some limitations compared to their usual status), pregnant women (but also parents with buggy), socially excluded or vulnerable people (those living in extreme poverty or discriminated due to their disabilities)

This enlarged definition of “universal accessibility” implies the adoption of an integrated design approach involving the public realm of the city avoiding a use strictly linked with population groups while supporting a more inclusive mixed-use strategy.

The World Bank and the World Health Organization estimate that a billion disabled people in the world face some barriers in the inclusion in many vital sectors, such as mobility, job, education, etc, or simply in being socially or politically involved during their everyday life. However, the right to actively participate in the public life and reduce disparities are core elements of a stable democracy. Accessibility is intended as empowerment, meaning the individual and collective awareness of the right to access goods or services within one’s own community.

This issue of the European Journal of Creative Practices in Cities and Landscapes explores the concept of accessibility as a design tool, capable of translating individual and collective instances, needs and topics into design elements for new services, products, use of the spaces. An approach that goes beyond the logic of a simple cause-and-effect sequence to take into account the complexity, leaving precise metrics to accept a development by successive approximations placing the user (the citizen) at the core of social life and public realm definition.

Contributions are welcome on (but not limited to) the following topics:

Design to strengthen the access to human and spatial rights: which role may have the design practices in the improvement of accessibility and autonomy of people? In which way the design of new policies, tools and relations could improve the city accessibility experiences of people, creating at the same time collective values? How to measure socio-economic impacts deriving from design for people autonomy? How supporting disabled people to live an independent life? How to highlight the spatial dimension of human rights and democracy?

Technologies to increase autonomy: Which enabling technologies could democratize the right of the city and its space also for vulnerable groups of people? In which way is possible, through innovative and transferable solutions and ICT-enabled elements, to ensure a large scale access to city services?

Disabled-friendly and age-friendly cities and districts: Which are the most promising experiences and practices from worldwide cities in prototyping and customizing solutions, spatial and service elements to create navigable environments for collective or individual activities?

Open Innovation and Accessibility: How to improve the accessibility and autonomy of people in sharing knowledge, data and cultural contents? How to promote inclusive and responsible innovation? How to adopt inclusive communication and languages for all?

The call will be linked to the Design for people autonomy Research Workshop in Bologna: a day-long workshop about Accessibility and Cultural Heritage in collaboration with ROCK project and Bologna Accessible City Award candidature

Vol 3, no 2 timeline

  • February 2020. Launch of CFP

  • 23 March 2020 tba Design for people autonomy Research Workshop in Bologna: a day-long workshop about Accessibility and Cultural Heritage in collaboration with ROCK project and Bologna Accessible City Award candidature

  • 26 March 2020 30 April Deadline for paper submission

  • 2 May 2020 05 June Notification of acceptance

  • May-June 2020 June-July 2020 Peer-review process

  • July-August 2020. Copy editing and proofreading

  • September 2020. Publication