tactall - country report 2010

8/6/2019 Tactall - Country Report 2010

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Country Report Italy Tactall

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1 Background

Accessibility Legislation and Standards

In Italy the laws of accessibility for people with special needs fall under thenational rules for the disabled peoples rights. The reference is the nationalgeneral law "For assistance, social integration and rights of persons withdisabilities", February 5th, 1992 with subsequent changes.

This fundamental law is precisely a general law, which identifies the generalguidelines in which, in regional and local levels, shall be placed the second levelregulations. Articles 2 and 3 below set out the principles of the law and itsrecipients.

General principlesThis law states the principles of regulation in matter of rights, social integrationand support of the disabled person. It is also a social and economic reform ofthe Republic, under the Article 4 of the Special Statute for Trentino-Alto Adige,approved by the Constitutional Law of February 26th, 1948, n. 5th.

Persons having the rightIs a disabled person who has a physical, mental or sensory (stabilized orprogressive) disability that causes difficulties in learning, integrating and relatingat work, which generates a process of social disadvantage or exclusion.2. The disabled person has access to the benefits determined in its favor

according to the nature and consistency of the disability, the individual residualcapacity and the effectiveness of rehabilitative therapies.3. In case the single or multiple disability has reduced the autonomy of theindividual (according to the age) so that a permanent and continuous care isrequired (in the individual scope or in the relationships one), the situationbecomes of serious connotation. The situations recognized as serious aredetermined as priority in programs and interventions of public services.4. This law is also applied to foreigners and stateless persons, residents,domiciled or having a stable residence in the national territory. The benefits aregiven within the limits and conditions provided by the legislation or internationalagreements.

An annex attached to the decree developed by the Commission for the analysisof issues related to disability in the specific field of assets and cultural activities,defines the basic concepts and presents an outline of the main legal provisionsinherent to architectural barriers.

The guidelines contain also an interesting chapter about accessibility to placesof cultural interest in which are exposed:

the criteria and guidelines of the Universal Design;

alternative solutions;

the criteria for the design and management.


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In the paragraph regarding the criteria for the design and management, we canfind useful information concerning:

guidance (reference points, signs, maps);

overcoming distances;

overcoming slopes (ramps, elevators, platform lifts, stair lifts, adaptationand improvement of existing escalators and ramps, overcome ofgradients in urban or landscape scale);

usage of environmental units and equipments (entrances, toilets,furniture);

connection with the safety rules and fire prevention;

preparation of exhibition spaces (hosting and access services, tours,artworks and objects exposure, captions, lighting);

monitoring and maintenance (information, parking, overcome ofdistances and gradients, reserved entrances, signs, temporary yards,toilets).

In the last chapter, regarding the case of studies, are specifically analyzedsome of the most common types of cultural assets, with a few paragraphs setas synthetic recommendations concerning:

historic parks and gardens, archaeological areas and parks;

urban spaces;

buildings and monumental complexes;

worship places;

exhibition spaces, museums, archives and libraries

This decree, like the general law, contains information deemed positive by theinterested parts, but has, frequently in Italy, encountered the problem ofimplementation. Bureaucratic slowness, lack of resources and a generaltendency to work primarily on emergencies result that, even for advancedlegislative actions, the actual implementation takes a long time and occursunevenly over the territory.

Municipal Accessibility Regulations

In Tuscany, the law in question is the 47 of 1991 modified by the Act 66 of 2003and its implementing decree of January 3rd, 2005.

Even the distance between the time of approval of the Act and the implementingdecree is an indicative of the structural difficulties faced by our country in thetransition from regulation to implementation.

Apart from the legislative activity, many initiatives taken at regional levels go inthe direction of overcoming environmental barriers for people with disabilities.One of these is the creation of a Permanent Observatory in support of actionsand projects for the removal of architectural barriers, first experience in Italy,

connected to a documentation center.


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At regional level was important the regulation that demanded the municipalitiesto approve, under the city planning regulations, the Plan of Elimination ofArchitectural Barriers (Piano di Eliminazione delle Barriere Architettoniche -PEBA). Also in this context, the actual implementation indicates a regional

uneven reality, with many municipalities still in delay in approving the plan.

Regarding the city and the province of Pistoia, these actions have beenimplemented in the years of the attention politics to the problems of personswith disability, often in a positive collaboration with the associations thatrepresent different categories. Significant initiatives have been taken for publicfacilities accessibility, territory monitoring and obstacles reporting.

An example is the detailed publication, put on the internet by the municipality ofPistoia, of the "Guide to the city of all", produced in collaboration with theCentro Studi e Documentazione Handicap, informing about accessibility in the

major public buildings and that intends to be also an instrument for continuouslyupdate of information on new services and also on shops and other publicplaces.

The Province of Pistoia then committed itself, through the establishment of aPermanent Observatory, to an action of monitoring and soliciting to themunicipalities procedures for the approval and implementation of the PEBA andhas adopted and implemented measures to improve accessibility in touristfacilities.

In summary, it can be concluded that the legislative and regulatory situationmay be considered advanced in many aspects, but not properly implemented atlocal level for a complexity of historical and technical administrative reasons.The good practices of cooperation between institutions and groups of theinterested parts have a positive impact locally, where the social and culturalsensitivity and the political will come together in a constructive manner.However, even the territories in Tuscany are very different in level and quality ofassistance to accessibility, particularly for the many private structures in aregion of high tourist vocation. There is also lacking of a plan of information andspread flexible means to reach people with special needs.

Information on the tourism industry and accessibility levels.

In Italy the Ente Nazionale Italiano per il Turismo - Italian State TourismBoard, established in 1919, and reorganized in October 1990 and again in May1995, is responsible for "the overseas promotion of tourism in Italy." Its notpossible to find any information concerning accessibility in its websites but thisis not true for other official websites, like http://www.italia.gov.it where there areuseful information on accessibility, even if only in Italian. Anyway, there arevarious private and not profit body who give information in accessibility tourism.


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2 Accessibility in the city

According to a regional regulation, supported and monitored by the province,each municipality should prepare a plan for the Elimination of ArchitecturalBarriers (PEBA) to be associated with the city planning regulation. At a

provincial level, a working group has been structured with institutional managersand representatives of the associations of the interested parts (ProvincialCenter for overcoming architectural barriers), which regularly monitors theprogress of PEBA in all the Provinces municipalities. Current data indicates thatonly part of the municipalities have actually complied with the PEBA, even if,until today, we do not know the status of actual implementation.

3 Tourism industry training needs

Accommodation, Restaurants, Travel agencies and other tourism

operators, Cultural centres and Leisure and sports centres

The majority of respondents in the hotel, restaurant, and other sectorsinterviewed have various understanding of the terms disability andaccessibility and generally do not demonstrate to be familiar with themeanings of these terms, except to refer them to physical disabilities meaningsand mobility in particular. Also possible procedures or services for dealing withcustomers with special needs appear something to be left only to specializedoperators.

Everybody agrees on the principle that improving accessibility creates a better

environment for everyone, but its significant to know that even if the interviewedwork in tourist enterprises that serve elderly people, they didnt have anyspecific strategy to improve accessibility for this kind of customers; anyway, allof them expressed the interest to have more information on the subject.

4 The Associations Assessment of Accessibility

In Pistoia, the Provincial Association of Families of disabled individuals and theAssociations for elderly with disabilities, state to feel a good willingness from theinstitutions and satisfactory levels of listening and opportunities to participate, ina legislative framework they consider to be advanced. Not yet positive is the

evaluation of implemented interventions, which are under their necessity andexpectations and above all, constantly subjected to delays due to the lack ofresources or technical paths and slow decision-making. The level ofaccessibility is very uneven and particularly poor in the private tourist facilitiesarea. Lacks a structured information system in a consistent manner throughoutthe territory.


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5 Accessibility of VET Institutions

CSCS worked with blind people to improve their abilities in informationtechnology sectors and developed and experimented various training resourcesfor them, including an online platform to assess and certificate their IT

competences. In its services, CSCS also provide placements periods for deafand for people with low mental disabilities.

6.- Conclusions

The National legislation, for its content, is considered sufficiently advanced eventhough it is 18 years old. Subsequent additions have touched specific aspectsconcerning people with special needs. It is worth mentioning the recent decree

from the Ministry of Cultural Assets containing guidelines for overcoming thearchitectural barriers in places of cultural interest.

Many of the regulations that affect people with disabilities are defined atregional level by the set of competencies that the regions in Italy have in thefield of health and social services.

The situation indicated by the interviews does not show a legislation lack; rulesexist and are even deemed to be advanced. The problem comes from theimplementation. From the results of the monitoring and controlling procedures,a dual-homogeneity is exposed: in the reception of regulations by the

municipality (the PEBA) and in the state of implementation of the predictedmeasures. Even where the PEBA was approved delays are identified,sometimes striking, in the implementation in relation to the administrative andtechnical procedures slowness and the lack of financial resources. The privateinstitutions system is also under rules but not sufficiently controlled andrequested to follow them. The successful collaboration with the associativestructures, for instance in the case of voluntary reporting of barriers, representsin anyways, an effective tool for the knowledge of the territory, for planninginterventions and spreading a collective sensibility towards accessibility for all.

Appendix

Report on questionnaires B and D

The questionnaire B is directed to persons in charge of accessibility, working atlocal institutions. The goal was to reconstruct a general picture of the situationof the territory when it comes to accessibility, both in terms of regulations andactual conditions implemented in different intervention areas.

Interviews were conducted with officials responsible for the social services in the City

and Province of Pistoia and with those in charge of the management of actionsregarding people with disabilities. At this stage it was chosen to be used as a source,


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the technical officials at highest level rather than politicians, once the time ofconduction of their duties lasts longer than administrative mandates.

Here's a summary of the responses obtained from the individual questions.

1. Existence of a territorial plan for accessibility.

According to a regional regulation, supported and monitored by the province, eachmunicipality should prepare a plan for the Elimination of Architectural Barriers(PEBA) to be associated with the city planning regulation. At a provincial level, aworking group has been structured with institutional managers and representativesof the associations of the interested parts (Provincial Center for overcomingarchitectural barriers), which regularly monitors the progress of PEBA in all theProvinces municipalities. Current data indicates that only part of the municipalitieshave actually complied with the PEBA, even if, until today, we do not know thestatus of actual implementation.

2. Strategies adopted for the plan definition.

Some of the indications have strictly a legislative origin, coming from existingnational or regional regulations. Other parts of the plan are defined and agreedalong with the associations representing the interested parts. Generally, thediscussions with the associations are constant, especially when planninginterventions.

3. About development and improvement of the plan.

Monitoring the plan actions, the obstacles and their report are mainly entrusted tothe public structures that largely use the cooperation with voluntary associations.

The Province of Pistoia has designed and implemented a campaign of voluntaryreporting of Architectural Barriers "All together in the hunt of the Barrier", hereillustrated by this passage of a Province informative note.

"The campaign for voluntary reporting of architectural barriers "All together in the hunt of thebarrier" is still in progress. You can fill up a simple form on the Province website(http://www.provincia.pistoia.it/). The "alert" is possible also on similar paper formsdistributed at all the Provinces URP offices and its municipalities. The ProvincialObservatory for overcoming architectural and sensory barriers is composed of the Provinceof Pistoia, the municipal administrations and of the associations representatives that, overthe Province territory, deal with disability. The goals are studying, planning and interveningto overcome the barriers, thanks to the actions of these persons and to the spread of theculture of building spaces without barriers "

4. About types of disability considered and individualized priorities.

In general, the legislation and the implemented regulations refer to all types ofdisabilities, physical, sensory, intellectual, organic, but for the interventionsimplemented, it is clear the prevalence of attention to physical and sensorydisabilities. The priorities identified are those in the transport system, access toschools and to public structures. Apart from a comprehensive program, we must

speak of individual interventions. Some time ago, the construction of access routesfor disabled people at the Sala Maggiore of the City Hall, located in the citys mostprestigious historic building, had a great resonance.


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5. About the detection of levels of accessibility in public or private structures.

There is no comprehensive study on levels of accessibility of the territorystructures. There are many reports on individual problems, almost all referring topublic structures. For the private sector even the attention level of the associationsis lower and, in fact, the reality of private structures is largely unknown.

A training course about accessibility for people with disabilities directed to allmunicipal offices technicians concerned to the problem, has revealed a low level ofinterest and motivation. A typical example of the procedures implemented isillustrated by the following.

Continues the work of checking the accessibility of public facilities of major importance bythe Provincial Centre for Overcoming Architectural and Sensory Barriers. Some earlysurveys have already been made at the new Pistoias "San Giorgio" library, performed withthe assistance of associations for disabled people and with the help and advice of thispeople. From these verifications, resulted some observations available to the municipality of

Pistoia to perform certain works necessary for the full accessibility to this importantstructure. A further survey was made at the head office of the Province of Pistoia to verifythe degree of accessibility in the entrance in Via Cavour, where an easy access to personswith disabilities is expected. The last survey was recently carried out at the train station ofPistoia in order to verify the degree of accessibility for persons with disabilities. The surveywas conducted by some representatives of the Centre among whom a person in a wheelchair for verifications.

6. About accessibility to the transport system.

Also this subject suffers from the typical problem in our country of achievingstatistically satisfactory solutions to a problem. Part of the transport system is

adequate to the needs of disabled persons, but others are not. Some progress wasmade in the Municipality of Pistoia with the establishment of the Free MobilityGuaranteed Service (Mobilit Garantita Gratuitamente - MGG) accomplished withthe purchase of two equipped buses.

7. Availability of information about accessibility at the citys tourist attractions.

There is no comprehensive information system for accessibility. Two informationdesks were put in service for disabled people, one in Pistoia at the Factory ofEmotions and the other in Monsummano (a Provinces municipality) at the publicrelations office. On the province website (www.provincia.pistoia.it), informationabout accessibility to tourist facilities and accommodations can be found.

Some publications show tourist information about accessibility. The privateinstitutions system is very uneven when it comes to information about accessibility.

The situation indicated by the interviews does not show a legislation lack; rulesexist and are even deemed to be advanced. The problem comes from theactual state of their implementation. From the results of the monitoring andcontrolling procedures, a dual-homogeneity is exposed: in the reception ofregulations by the municipality (the PEBA) and in the state of implementation ofthe predicted measures. Even where the PEBA was approved delays areidentified, sometimes striking, in the implementation in relation to theadministrative and technical procedures slowness and the lack of financial

resources. The private institutions system is also under rules but not sufficientlycontrolled and requested to follow them. The successful collaboration with the


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associative structures, for instance in the case of voluntary reporting of barriers,represents in anyways, an effective tool for the knowledge of the territory, forplanning interventions and spreading a collective sensibility towardsaccessibility for all.

The questionnaire D is directed to representatives of disabled and/or elderlypeople. The goal is to provide a general overview of the perception of theinterested parts towards the implementation situation, legislative andoperational, of the actions for accessibility in the city and in the province.

The interview was made with persons responsible for the Provincial Association

of Families of disabled individuals and representatives of associations forelderly with disabilities.

1. About the evaluation of the accessibility level for all in the territory

A good willingness to listen and to dialogue has been recognized by the institutionsand also the fact that, over the last years, several interventions have been made.The overall situation is still not considered satisfactory, in particular because of theprocedures slowness and the chronic shortage of resources. Some recentinterventions (such as on city sidewalks) have even worse difficulties. Difficulties fora positive relationship between the needs expressed by the ones with disability andthe technicians responsible for the implementation of the interventions have beenindicated. "The technicians are not prepared to consider the real needs of peoplewith disabilities".

2. About the evaluation of the current legislation.

It is considered that the laws are adequate but largely disregarded. It is consideredpositively the regulation that finances and facilitates, for the private entities, therenovation of dwellings in favour of persons with disabilities. It is believed that somestandards, particularly for mobility should be reviewed.

3. About the access difficulties encountered in daily life.

A great diversity is encountered between the public structures (where "somethinghas been done and continues to be done") and the private ones (where "everythingdepends of the sensibility of the individuals"). The problems often come from anuneven area where it is often unknown what to expect and where it is difficult toknow whether a hotel do or do not have a car park suitable for people withdisabilities.

4. About the evaluation of awareness of tourist facilities managers in matters ofservices provision for persons with disabilities.

We emphasize once again how the private sector is set in a random and highly

uneven way, despite of the presence of rules that impose certain standards toreduce access barriers. On many occasions theres a general willingness that is not


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translated into real actions. A lack of culture and focus on accessibility situation isrevealed, particularly in accommodation and catering structures.

5. About availability of information for people with disabilities.

There isnt a structured and consistent information system. A comparison with thecity of Florence can be made, where the tourist guide contains all the informationnecessary for disabled people. The offices for territory information (Factory of theEmotions in Pistoia, Public Relations Office in Monsummano) are usefulinnovations but do not fully perform the task. A substantial step forward regardinginformation in private structures is required.

In summary, those interviewed state to feel a good willingness from the institutions and

satisfactory levels of listening and opportunities to participate, in a legislative

framework they consider to be advanced. Not yet positive is the evaluation of

implemented interventions, which are under their necessity and expectations andabove all, constantly subjected to delays due to the lack of resources or technical paths

and slow decision-making. The level of accessibility is very uneven and particularly

poor in the private tourist facilities area. Lacks a structured information system in a

consistent manner throughout the territory.


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This transfer of innovation project

builds on the 'European Rural Tourism'

Pilot Project

To develop a new modular training package to

address the needs of SMEs and Support

agencies in raising skills and knowledge onAccessibility in the tourism sector within The

Accessible City

Functional diversity

There are plenty of disabled people who would not call themselves disabled - a grandmother who is

hard of hearing, a child with reading difficulties, someone who wears glasses. Some people may have

temporary mobility restrictions, such as someone with a broken leg or a pregnant lady; some conditionsare not obvious - asthma, diabetes and allergies. Impairments that have an adverse effect on a person's

day-to-day activities can include cancer, multiple sclerosis, heart conditions; hearing or sight

impairments; learning difficulties and mental health conditions such as dementia and depression.

Tactall objectives

Transfer experience in tackling accessibility issues to promote Tourism for all

Develop new training course based on methodology of ERTD project www.ertd.infoPilot/evaluate new learning modules/content

seek to integrate in national VET frameworks

Disseminate outcomes to stakeholders

Investigate potential to establish Accessible City network in Europe

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The course structure at the end...by Giovanni Crison - Monday, 4 May 2009, 04:22 PM

Following first project meeting, Marny Thompson and Rosaleen Courtney of nortcoll uk, agreed to look at all

the skills objectives, both from the 'brainstorm' in the meeting and also the suggestions that Gruppo Adaptahad provided.

They spent some time arriving at a first draft document, in witch they have a suggested course structure,

which covers 12 weeks, 4 workshops. This would be blended learning (as we all partners agreed).

The basical idea was that the workshops should be very practical and interactive so, the first draf has been

updated with Adapta and Cdea contribute and Leif Haar suggested: "a structure with modules, so the

learner can pick the right module(s), which fits best. The structure now is not interesting for Danishinstitutions or companies. The length of a course unit of several weeks will really be a problem."

First meeting in San Sebastianby Giovanni Crison - Monday, 4 May 2009, 04:00 PM

First meeting in San Sebastian, Basque Country, has been held the 11th

, 12th

December 2008.

Partecipants discussed project plan, organization, skills objectives, roles and marketing aspects.

The official launch of Tactall has been the 12th with a press conference in the municipality of San

Sebastian.

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