Using a participatory action strategic approach to enhance accessibility and participation in arts and cultural events: Results of four focus groups

Mobility in urban events: walkability and accessibility in the Guelaguetza

“…In fact, nowadays, there are almost no streets in the city that fulfil regulations or recommendations on materials, slip conditions, size, and slopes. According to previous studies (Milligan, Nieuwenhuijsen, and Grawi 2014), this is probably the main issue to be improved in the future to make the event more inclusive.…”

“…However, very few have been done on the topic of accessibility of persons with reduced mobility to cultural events. According to Milligan, Nieuwenhuijsen, and Grawi (2014), accessibility is the main environmental barrier to participation in arts and cultural events. Doshi et al (2014) developed a checklist for conference organizers in order to make events more accessible.…”

Examining the Impact of Knowledge Mobilization Strategies to Inform Urban Stakeholders on Accessibility: A Mixed-Methods study

“…On the other hand, the videos were the only KM strategy evaluated as useful to raise awareness around mobility issues experienced by MD users. Raising awareness is crucial to strengthen the social participation of people with disabilities [12,31]. Moreover, Meagher and colleagues [11] argue that general awareness raising could lead to changes in practice and is a way that research can have a high impact.…”

“…KM has been used to inform practices of various stakeholders in studies focusing on public health initiatives for people with and without disabilities [19,29] and on environmental management [27,30]. However, very few studies have focused on KM for urban planners and decision makers regarding accessibility [12,17,31]. Interviews with urban planners suggested that through knowledge exchange and public consultations, they perceived they would get a better understanding of the accessibility terminology and the needs of people with disabilities [17].…”

“…Despite the positive impacts of these regulations [6], concerns continue to be raised about how the design of public spaces fails to address the needs of people living with disabilities [9,10]. Several authors have suggested that decision makers and urban planners may lack necessary knowledge about accessibility and disability related issues to design public spaces that are fully accessible and inclusive [5,11,12]. Therefore, it is crucial to include the perspectives of people with disabilities in any discussion on urban accessibility [10,13,14].…”