About the event

The Municipality of Rotterdam, the City of Marseille and “TheMayor.EU – the European Portal for Cities and Citizens” organized the fourth EUDIGIT webinar: "Citizens with a Disability: Digital Divide and Opportunities".

The two-day event explored the challenges that persons with disabilities face in an increasingly digitalised world and what our cities can do to overcome them to become truly inclusive. As in previous webinars under the EUDIGIT project, the event offered an inspiring mix of successful stories from the partner cities, noteworthy examples from all corners of Europe, as well as an introduction to the political context at the EU level.

 

Agenda

 

• The first day featured brief presentations of examples on how stakeholders can bridge the digital gap as experienced by people with disabilities or chronic illnesses. These examples were demonstrated by the cities of Marseille, Cluj-Napoca, Rotterdam, Genoa, Hamburg and Varna.
  
  Consecutive sessions focused on inclusive communication, where citizens who suffer from a disability or a chronic illness talked about their experiences with local administrations.
  
  The afternoon sessions focused on inclusive digital education and healthcare tools.
   
• The second day started with an overview on the EU legislation and policy context in the field of digital rights. It then continued with sessions on how to make the workplace, and sport and leisure facilities accessible and inclusive to persons with disabilities and chronic illnesses.

All sessions adopted a practical and interactive approach, to ensure efficient exchanges of experience and transferability of best practices.

 

Download the speakers presentations materials

Agenda of the seminar

​Panel 1:  Local workshops 

• Results of Marseille local workshop 
• Results of Rotterdam local workshop 
• Results of Cluj-Napoca local workshop 
• Results of Genoa local workshop 
• Results of Varna local workshop 
• Results of Hambourg local workshop 
   
• European Accessibility Policies and Legislation, Ms Inmaculada PLACENCIA PORRERO, senior expert – Social Affairs at DG Employment, European Commission

Panel 4 : Health & Wellbeing 

• Social robotics accessible for children with a diabetes, Mr Alberto Sanna, director of the Center for Advanced Technology in Health & Wellbeing (Italy)
• LOVOT Social Robots for people with dementia or autism, Ms Lajla Holtebo Gregersen, advisor on people with a disability at City of Aalborg (Danmark)

Panel 5 : Work

• Technology pilots for people with a cognitive disability, Ms Kim Kranenborg and Mr Leendert Bos – advisors on Inclusive technology at TNO and Knowledge Alliance Inclusion and Technology (Nederland)
• Inclusive technology within the social workplace, Mr Bart Decloedt, innovation manager at social working place Mariasteen (Belgium)

Panel 6 : Sport & Leisure

• Gaming for people with a disability, Mr Alexander Nathan, founder of Belgian / Dutch Organisation premastunned games (Belgium)
• Making videos for people with disabilities, Mr Mads Pedersen, advisor on parasport at DGI Nordjyl (Danmark)

Closing of the seminar

• Poem by the artist Darryl of the collective IkBenWij, Restitution of the seminar

 

Watch the webinar's replay

 

 

 

 

Partners
 

The webinar is organised with the kind support of:
 

• TNO - Dutch Scientific Institution  
  TNO connects people and knowledge to create innovations that boost the sustainable competitive strength of industry and well-being of society. At TNO, they strengthen the knowledge base for the Netherlands by working together with internationally leading knowledge partners, companies and governments. Given the globalisation of research, TNO is becoming an increasingly international actor.
   
• Gebruiker Centraal – User Central 
  User Central is a community for professionals, which works for better online service provision from governments. They share experiences and create ideas through events. The User Central Principals help to develop a better online service.
   
• Het Nieuwe Instituut – The New Institution 
  Het Nieuwe Instituut is the Netherlands’ national institute for architecture, design and digital culture. Located in the City of Architecture, Rotterdam, in the Museum Park with Kunsthal Rotterdam and Depot Boijmans Van Beuningen as neighbours, Het Nieuwe Instituut has various exhibition spaces, a museum shop, a museum café (with the city’s loveliest terrace), an auditorium, educational spaces and a garden. 
  
  Het Nieuwe Instituut focuses on important social developments, such as the housing shortage, the energy transition, the rise of artificial intelligence, mobility, and the use of public space. Designers, including architects and digital makers, can make important contributions to these developments. Het Nieuwe Instituut showcases the work of designers, brings people into contact with each other, and collects, develops and shares knowledge.
   
• MEE Rotterdam Rijnmond 
  The organisation MEE Rotterdam Rijnmond is there so that people with disabilities can participate in society, just like everyone else. They help people to organize their own life. They give people a helping hand. If someone encounters barriers, they will remove them or they will teach that person how to overcome them. MEE Rotterdam Rijnmond does not do this alone. They work together with others to find solutions.
   
• Stichting Ik ben WIJ – Foundation I am WE 
  ‘I am WE’ is the title under which activities take place that lead to a 'WE society', a society in which there is room for everyone. We live in a society that is highly individualistic and in which people are increasingly drifting apart. People are afraid of the other. Living worlds are separated and people increasingly live alongside each other. Natives and immigrants live alongside each other, and so do the young and the elderly, the rich and the poor.