Access City Awards 2020
The Access City Award, an EU initiative, is an annual award given to cities which have worked to become more accessible. It recognises the efforts made by cities to become more accessible, promotes equal access to urban life for people with disabilities and allows local authorities to promote and share their best practices.
The Access City Award celebrates a city’s willingness, ability and efforts to become more accessible in order to:
- Guarantee equal access to fundamental rights
- Improve the quality of life of its population and ensure that everybody, regardless of age, mobility or ability, has equal access to all the resources and pleasures cities have to offer.
EU cities of with over 50,000 inhabitants and urban areas composed of two or more towns with a combined population of over 50,000 inhabitants, if they are in EU countries with fewer than 2 cities with over 50,000 inhabitants are eligible to compete for The Access City Award.
The recipient of the 2020 Access City Award was Warsaw. At the awards ceremony, Employment, Social Affairs, Skills and Labour Mobility Commissioner Marianne Thyssen said “With the Access City Award, winning cities can be an inspiration for other EU cities and beyond that encounter similar challenges. Warsaw, winner of the 10th edition, is a model for others, showing that a lot can be done in a very short amount of time and that commitment can be key to success.”
By involving people with disabilities and accessibility needs in its endeavour to make the city more accessible, Warsaw was able to make a substantial overall improvement to the city’s ease of access in a short space of time.
The European Commission received 47 applications for the 2020 edition. The city of Castellóde la Plana in Spain and the city of Skellefteå in Sweden were the second and third place winners. Chania in Greece, Tartu in Estonia and Evreux in France all received a special mention. Chania was recognized for its use of technology to provide accessible parking, Tartu for its grassroots approach to accessibility and Evreux for its work on hidden disabilities
It is expected that by 2020 the European Union (EU) will have 120 million people with disabilities while the population will also be getting older. Four out of five EU citizens now live in towns and cities making Europe essentially an urban society. The European Union promotes equality of opportunity and accessibility for people with disabilities. A fundamental part of the strategy involves working towards a barrier free Europe.
For further information on the Access City Awards click here
Alternatively, if you need further information on how to make services and facilities more accessible and inclusive, please do not hesitate to contact one of our team on (01) 415 12 85 or e-mail [email protected].
