Nordic School of Public Health
Nordic Cooperation on Disability
Gothenburg, 2007-02-09
Project report
Project:
The Nordic-Baltic Seminars “Introducing Universal Design as a National
Strategy”
Objective:
To arrange two seminars (in Estonia and Lithuania) in order to discuss how to
implement the statements and recommendations worked out in the Council of Europe’s
report “Achieving full participation through Universal Design” in the Nordic and Baltic
countries in the best way.
Project organisation: The project was carried out by the Nordic School of Public Health (NHV) and
the Nordic Cooperation on Disability (NSH) in the period of August 2006-February
2007.
Partners in Estonia:
The Ministry of Social Affairs;
The Estonian Chamber of Disabled People;
Partners in Lithuania:
The Office of Equal Opportunities Ombudsman;
The Nordic Council of Ministers’ Office in Lithuania;
Target group of the seminars: decision makers in the sphere of urban planning, transport,
communications, culture, education, social care, public health on the national and regional levels in
Estonia and Lithuania as well as representatives of NGOs for people with disabilities.
Aims of the seminars:
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To introduce the Council of Europe’s upcoming report and to contribute with the concrete
suggestions to the recommendations to governments on improving accessibility based on the
principles of Universal Design that the Committee of Experts on Universal Design
(Accessibility) is expected to draw up.
To familiarize the participants of the seminar with the Baltic (Estonian, Lithuanian) legislation
on improving accessibility in different spheres.
To present the Nordic view on Universal Design/Design for All as a national strategy that
promotes sustainable development that was worked out by the NCM in two documents
adopted in 2005 “Design for All – a Nordic Programme for Action” and the revised strategy
“Sustainable Development – New Bearings for the Nordic Countries”.
To exchange the experiences in mainstreaming that the Nordic and Baltic countries have
gained in improving accessibility for all.
To contribute to further integration of the Universal Design/Design for All concept into the
political agenda.
Seminar documents:
1. The Nordic Council of Ministers’ Action Plan “Design for All – a Nordic programme for Action”.
(It was translated into Estonian/Lithuanian);
2. The Norwegian Government Action Plan for increased accessibility for persons with
disabilities. Plan for universal design in key areas of society. (Its short version was translated
into Estonian/Lithuanian);
3. The Council of Europe Action Plan to promote the rights and full participation of people with
disabilities in society: improving the quality of life of people with disabilities in Europe 20062015 (It was translated into Estonian);
4. The Nordic Strategy “Sustainable Development – New Bearings for the Nordic Countries”
2005-2008;
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5. The presentation of the Council of Europe Report “Achieving full participation through
Universal Design” (the Report is expected to become available in the spring of 2007);
Seminar programme: www.nhv.se/dfa
Seminar in Tallinn:
The seminar in Tallinn was held on 2007-01-23. 45 participants, the representatives of the following
organisations took part in the seminar (see the attached list of participants for the details):
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The Ministry of Social Affairs (Estonia);
The Ministry of Transport and Communications (Estonia);
The Ministry of Education and Science (Estonia);
The Municipalities of Tallinn, Tartu, Paide, Valga;
The Estonian National Institute of Health Development;
The Tallinn Health College;
The Estonian Employers’ Confederation;
The Estonian Chamber of Disabled People (Umbrella organisation);
The Board of Disabled People from 10 counties (Rapla, Tallinn, East-Virumaa, Viljandi,
Hiiumaa, Pärnu, Põlva, Järva, Jõgeva, Võru);
Edelaraudtee AS, Estonian Railway Company;
The Ministry of the Environment (Norway);
The Nordic School of Public Health;
The Nordic Cooperation on Disability;
The seminar was welcomed by Mr Jaak Aab, Minister of Social Affairs of the Republic of Estonia and
Mrs Kai Kukk representing the Ministry of Education and Science.
The programme of the seminar included the plenary session and the discussions in 2 groups (see
attachment 1).
The moderators of the group discussions:
Olav Rand Bringa (Norway)
Evastina Björk (Sweden) and Tõne Karu (Estonia)
The reporters: Max Petzold (Sweden)
Karin Lilienberg (Estonia)
The seminar was met as a “just in time” event by most participants. At present the government of
Estonia is working at a new strategy on disability policy and revised legislation on welfare. The
strategy is planned to be adopted in the spring of 2007. The seminar let the Ministry of Social Affairs
that is responsible for the documents present the state of things and have an opportunity to get the
feedback and expert assistance from the participants of the seminar (on the spot and after the seminar
using the created network).
The participants of the seminar came to the following conclusions:
1. The work aimed at improving accessibility of society for all that is being done by the Estonian
authorities now should be stimulated. Those ministries that have already started such
activities and those that are planning to start should be encouraged and assisted in their
attempts.
2. One should provide competence exchange between civil servants working with disability
policy in general and with issues concerning improving accessibility of society in particular at
the national level. Appropriate ways of cooperation between the corresponding ministries are
open for discussion.
 Arrange study trips for Estonian civil servants working at developing strategic
documents on disability and accessibility policy to the corresponding ministries in the
Nordic countries;
 To establish small groups of Nordic experts (reference groups) who can share the
experience and competence in preparing strategic documents concerning disability and
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accessibility policy on request from the Estonian authorities. The groups’ potential can be
used to support the work that is being done at the moment in Estonia;
3. Experience and knowledge exchange between municipalities in Estonia and in the Nordic
countries aimed at improving accessibility of society at the local level should be intensively
developed.
 Estonian and joint Estonian-Nordic seminars should be arranged for municipal
employees in order to discuss the concept, definitions, good practices, designing and
implementation of action plans on improving accessibility;
 Study trips for Estonian municipal officers to the Nordic municipalities that have gained
good experience implementing the Universal Design principles (e.g. 16 pilot municipalities
in Norway) should be planned. The target group could vary:
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those Estonian municipalities who have already started working with Universal
Design issues;
those municipalities which representatives participated in the seminar;
those municipalities who would like to see how this work might be organised on
the local level and get inspired;
the biggest Estonian municipalities;
4. From the point of view of the seminar participants, one of the challenges to cope with on the
way to the society accessible for all citizens is to change people’s attitude towards persons
with disabilities and their participation in community life. Raising awareness of Design for All
(for both general public, civil servants, politicians, etc.) and developing competence in the area
are the key measures that should be taken by the Baltic States. From the Nordic side most
activities could be coordinated by the NHV. The resources the NSH and the NHR (Nordic
Council on Disability) possess should be actively used:
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To map and implement measures aimed at raising awareness of Design for all in higher
educational institutions in Estonia.
To start discussions with educational institutions in Estonia aimed at including single
lectures/seminars in Design for All into the curricula of the existing programmes. In the
long run - to consider possibilities for offering courses in Design for all.
To bring up to discussion the possibility of establishing a competence and training
centre dealing with issues of accessibility and Design for All in Estonia;
To contact associations/unions of professionals (architects, designers, municipal
planners, occupational therapists, engineers, etc.) and discuss the opportunity of
offering some kind of training in Design for All to the corresponding groups;
To invite Estonian politicians, user organisations as well as branch specialists to
relevant conferences/activities in the Nordic countries.
To support conferences /educational activities on the issue on the national, regional and
local levels in Estonia;
The Ministry of Social Affairs (Estonia) intends to translate the Council of Europe Report “Achieving full
participation through Universal Design” into Estonian as soon as the full text of the document is
available to the public.
The aims of the seminar in Tallinn were mainly achieved.
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The limited time schedule did not let the participants discuss good practices of mainstreaming
in Estonia and the Nordic countries in the desired volume and this issue might be a subject for
one of the follow up activities.
The term “Universal Design/Design for All” does not exist in the Estonian language and this is
one of the present challenges - to find the equivalent accepted by the society. In spite of the
additional information about the issue prepared by the project group and sent to the invitees,
misunderstanding of the title of the seminar might also be one of the reasons why the number
of key decision makers employed by the ministries was lower that expected.
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The Nordic participants of the seminar expressed the opinion that there is a need in getting
more detailed information about the situation with accessibility to all spheres of the community
life in Estonia and other Baltic countries that presents both official and public points of view.
The seminar was jointly financed by the project funding and the Estonian Ministry of Social Affairs that
covered the expenses related to the seminar venue, simultaneous interpretation, multimedia and
translation of the seminar materials.
The Seminar in Vilnius:
The seminar in Vilnius was held on the 2007-02-02. 62 participants, the representatives of the
following organisations took part in the seminar (see the attached list of participants for the details):
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The Parliament (Seimas) of the Republic of Lithuania (Committee on Human Rights);
The Ministry of Health (Lithuania);
The Ministry of Environment (Lithuania);
The Ministry of Transport and Communications (Lithuania);
The Ministry of Social Security and Labour (Lithuania);
The Ministry of Education and Science (Lithuania);
The Department for Affairs of the Disabled (under the Ministry of Social Security and Labour);
The Centre for Technical Aid for Disabled People (under the Ministry of Social Security and
Labour);
The Information Society Development Committee under the Government of Republic of
Lithuania;
The Lithuanian State Environmental Health Centre;
The Lithuanian Institute of Information Technologies;
The National Audit Office of the Republic of Lithuania;
The Office of Equal Opportunities Ombudsman (Lithuania);
The Municipalities of Vilnius, Kaunas; Utena County Governor’s Administration;
The Kaunas University of Medicine. The Geriatric Clinic, the Rehabilitation Clinic;
The Lithuanian Societies/Associations for People with Disabilities (Physically Disabled, With
Intellectual Disabilities, with Mental Retardation, with Injuries of the Backbone, the Blind and
Visually Impaired, the Deaf, of Families with Deaf and Hearing Impaired Children);
The Lithuania’s special weekly for people with disabilities;
The Embassy of Sweden in Lithuania;
The Embassy of Norway in Lithuania;
The Nordic Cooperation on Disability;
The Ministry of the Environment (Norway);
The Ministry of Social Inclusion and Labour (Norway);
The Nordic School of Public Health;
The Swedish Institute for Special Needs Education;
The Danish Cultural Institute;
The seminar was welcomed by Mrs Malin Kärre, the Ambassador of Sweden in Lithuania, Mr Arminas
Lydeka, Chairman of the Committee on Human Rights of the Lithuanian Parliament, Ms Violeta
Murauskaité, Undersecretary of the Lithuanian Ministry of Social Security and Labour and Mrs Aušriné
Burneikiené, Equal Opportunities Ombudsman. The seminar was chaired by Mr Inge Ovesen, Director
of the Nordic Cooperation on Disability.
See the programme of the seminar in attachment 1.
On request of the seminar participants the questions meant for the group discussions were debated in
one group moderated by Professor Anders Möller (Sweden). The participants came to the following
conclusions:
1.
Legislation aimed at improving accessibility of society for all is the area that the seminar
participants representing the Lithuanian ministries would like to have close contact with their
Norwegian colleagues. The Ministry of the Environment of Norway should take the initiative of
establishing and developing such cooperation with the corresponding ministry in Lithuania.
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2.
The seminar participants expressed the hope that the Lithuanian Government will appoint one of
the ministries (e.g. the Ministry of the Environment or the Ministry of Social Security and Labour)
as the coordinating body for all activities aimed at improving accessibility of the society for all
citizens. Both the Norwegian Ministry of the Environment and the Ministry of Social Inclusion
and Labour that have gained a considerable experience on the matter could assist in
establishing and developing this function (to arrange study trips for Lithuanian colleagues to the
corresponding ministries in Oslo, to organise joint workshops on legislation and its
implementation, etc.).
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Taking into account that the Universal Design concept is rather new in Lithuania, special
attention should be paid to raising awareness and competence development. The NHV was
proposed as the responsible organisation from the Nordic side for most activities of this kind.
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To encourage the Ministry of Education and Science to working out a strategy on
introducing Universal Design principles into curricula of occupations working with built
environments, product development, services (transport, education, culture, etc.);
To stimulate higher educational institutions in Lithuania to pay more attention to accessibility
issues and to develop action plans on improving accessibility to both buildings and learning
materials. The responsibility (from the Nordic side) should be shared between the NSH,
NHR and NHV;
To assist in establishing a contact between the Nordic Council on Disability Policy’s Network
on Education and Training Issues and the Lithuanian Ministry of Education and Science as
well as the Lithuanian universities. The responsible Nordic organisations are the NSH and
NHR;
To encourage higher educational institutions to more intensive cooperation with Nordic
universities and university colleges on developing and offering lectures / courses / seminars
/ workshops on Universal Design;
To arrange courses in Universal Design for the employed in the sphere of education and
education management;
To bring up discussion with all interested parties on how to create a range of courses in
Universal design for people having a higher education and employed in various spheres;
To discuss with the Nordic School of Public Health the possibility of offering both distance
and campus courses in Universal Design in English; To bring up discussion on how
participation of Lithuanian participants can be financed.
The seminar participants willing to start/promote cooperation with the Nordic countries, develop
their competence in the field were encouraged to more actively use the possibilities offered
within the programmes of the Nordic Council of Ministers:
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The Civil Servants Exchange Programme
(http://www.norden.lt/index.php?show_content_id=87&proj_id=90&set_lang_id=en);
The Support Programme for NGO Cooperation among the Nordic and Baltic Countries
(http://www.norden.lt/index.php?show_content_id=87&proj_id=839&set_lang_id=en);
The Nordic Council of Ministers' Funding Programme for NGOs in the Baltic Sea Region
(http://www.norden.org/russland/uk/samarb_fri.asp?lang=6);
The aims of the seminar in Vilnius could be estimated as achieved.
Almost 50% of the seminar participants are decision makers employed by different ministries and
other governmental institutions. The concept of Universal Design is new for the country. As far as we
can judge only 3 of 13 ministries have started taking measures to provide better accessibility of the
society, though missing coordination.
The seminar was financed by the project funding. The local partners contributed with printing out the
seminar materials.
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The conclusion common for both seminars:
Nordic institutions working in the Baltic States on issues of improving accessibility of society for all
should strive towards closer cooperation with other partners on the scene, i.e. the Nordic embassies in
Estonia and Lithuania, the NCM’ Offices in Tallinn and Vilnius, other Nordic and national
organisations.
Attachment 1
Programme of the seminars:
The plenary session of both seminars was almost identical.
1. Olav Rand Bringa presented the tendencies that characterise the attitude of the European society to
people with disabilities and mainstreaming of disability issues (that implies participation of practically
all ministries) as the key approach.
O. Rand Bringa referred the seminar participants to the documents specifying the measures to be
taken to improve accessibility of people with disabilities to environments, services and products:
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The UN Convention on the Protection and Promotion of the Rights and Dignity of Persons with
Disabilities adopted in December 2006 and expected to be ratified in the spring of 2007;
The Council of Europe Action Plan to promote the rights and full participation of people with
disabilities in society: improving the quality of life of people with disabilities in Europe 20062015;
The Council of Europe Resolution on the introduction of the principles of universal design into
the curricula of all occupations working on the built environment (“Tomar Resolution”);
The Nordic Strategy for Sustainable Development “New Bearings for the Nordic Countries”;
Olav Rand Bringa continued with the presentation of the Council of Europe Report “Achieving full
participation through Universal Design” that describes the Universal design strategy in detail. The
report was adopted by the Committee of Ministers within Partial Agreement in the Social and Public
health Field in December 2006.
The Report invites member states:
 to promote full participation for all individuals regardless of age, abilities or cultural
background, including people with disabilities in community life by ensuring access to
and usability of all aspects of society, including built environments, transport, products
and goods, information, public service, education, employment and care.
 to implement Universal design as a strategy to ensure equal and democratic rights in
society for all citizens.
The governments of the member states are encouraged:
 to adopt a coordinated, harmonised and intersectorial approach to the Universal Design
concept and to decide upon plans for improvements of accessibility;
 to coordinate on the national level activities of key actors;
 to introduce and implement legislative measures and provisions in order to provide a basic
framework for implementation mechanisms.
The Council of Europe Resolution on Universal Design is planned to be adopted in 2007.
3. Inge Ovesen presented the work that is being done by the Nordic Council on Disability Policy and the
Nordic Cooperation on Disability to improve accessibility for people with disabilities to all spheres of
life (education, transport, culture, labour market, etc.)
The speaker described the three parts of the Nordic Council of Ministers Action Plan Design for All – A
Nordic Programme for Action:
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The overall strategy with the focus on mainstreaming, permanent attention to
accessibility issues reflected in funding;
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The information strategy targeted at raising awareness and training of the personnel;
The actions to be taken to provide easier access to Nordic institutions, activities and
information.
Einar Lund (The Norwegian Ministry of the Environment) (in Tallinn) and Georg Antonsen (The
Norwegian Ministry of Social Inclusion and Labour) (in Vilnius) presented one of the examples of how
Universal Design could become a national strategy. They spoke about the Government Action Plan for
increased accessibility for persons with disabilities that implied 124 obstacles relating to accessibility
to transport, housing and buildings, outdoor areas, information, products, etc. that should be
eliminated in Norway.
Tallinn:
1. Peeter Tiks from the Estonian Ministry of Transport and Communications presented the
Strategy on transport development in Estonia (2006-2013) that took the principles of Universal
Design into consideration. The Strategy was adopted in November 2006 and implies that the
transport system should be developed in 3 directions. Meeting the needs of users is one of
them.
2. Monika Sarapuu from the Estonian Ministry of Social Affairs informed the seminar participants
about the new strategy on disability policy that the Ministry commissioned by the Government
is preparing.
Ms Sarapuu pointed out the importance of spreading information about Universal Design in
Estonia and the necessity of joint actions of the authorities, user organisations, industry so
that everyone can benefit from that.
Vilnius:
1. Dangyras Zukauskas, Head of Design Standardization Division, Department of Housing and
Construction, Lithuanian Ministry of the Environment presented the country’s legislation (building and
housing) aimed at improving accessibility of the society for all citizens.
2. Gražina Krupovnickienė, Information Society Development Committee under the Government of
the Republic of Lithuania spoke about the Lithuanian legislation targeted at better accessibility to
information and information technologies and the experience of adaptation of IT to the needs of people
with disabilities.
Contact information:
Inge Ovesen, Nordic Cooperation on Disability, Director ([email protected])
Marianne Smedegaard, Nordic Cooperation on Disability, Project Manager
([email protected])
Max Petzold, Nordic School of Public Health, Senior Lecturer, Project Leader, ([email protected])
Tanja Johansson, Nordic School of Public Health, Project Assistant ([email protected])
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