From education to inclusion

The awareness about the needs of visually impaired is generally low among civil servants in Slovakia. Also, visually impaired in Slovakia need to be better in expressing their needs. These conclusions were drawn by the Slovak Blind and Partially Sighted Union, UNSS, during a project that they carried out in 2017-2019.

We need to create concrete tools that affect several target groups, says Branislav Mamojka, president of the Slovak Blind and Partially Sighted Union. Civil servants and decision makers need increased awareness about the needs of visually impaired and visually impaired have to be better in expressing their needs. Through international cooperation we can formulate inclusive solutions.

In the project we will create manuals and educate civil servants and visually impaired on accessibility. The education includes IT, communication and built environment. Funka’s part in the project consist in the build environment section. For example, we will educate permit administrators and architects in local bodies in Slovakia.

It’s always valuable to collaborate with disabled persons organisations in countries where we haven’t done so much work before, says Susanna Laurin, Chief Research and Innovation Officer at Funka. The material that we will create in this project will be free of charge for other organisations, so we hope for a broad usage.

The project starts during fall 2019 and continues until 2022. UNSS hope for the project to increase awareness on a broad scale and to strengthen the organisation.

Funding: ERASMUS+
Consortium: Slovak Blind and Partially Sighted Union (project manager), Masaryk University and Funka
Period: September 2019 - Februray 2022
Budget: 206 719 EURO