Global Universal Design Educators Online News

Volume 5 Number 5, June - July 2004

Contents

• Editor's Note
• News from the Global Network
• AFGHANISTAN
• Afghanistan: New Comprehensive National Disability Policy
• AUSTRALIA
• User-Centered Themed Journal "Design Philosophy Papers"
• BAHRAIN
• Heritage, Globalization and the Built Environment
• BRAZIL
• Designing for the 21st Century III 
• GREECE
• Olympic Games and Accessibility
• ITALY
• Venice - Architectural Barriers Plan
• JAPAN
• Toyota’s Universal Design Showcase 
• PORTUGAL
• House of the Future Project 
• SERBIA AND MONTENEGRO
• Seminar on Universal Design
• SLOVENIA
• European Mobility Award 2004
• UNITED KINGDOM
• "Access All Area" Awards
• DRC Access Statements
• Joseph Rowntree Foundation / Habinteg Lifetime homes
• RIBA - Inclusive Design in Schools
• RNIB & Accessible Web Design
• RSA Inclusive Design Resource and Exhibits Online 
• Web and Aging: Challenges and Opportunities, Journal Issue
• UNITED STATES 
• Accessible Garden
• AHEAD - 27th Annual Conference: Leading the Dance
• The Dyson/IDSA "An Eye for Why" Designing and Engineering Competition
• The EasyLiving Home (cm) Program Expanding Beyond Georgia
• Georgia Tech Survey on Universal Design of Consumer - Oriented Products
• Home Depot Books Debut Universal Design Chapters
• LEAD Conference for Cultural Settings
• National Low Impact Development Student Design Competition
• PVA’s Barrier-Free America Award
• Understanding Universal Design and Access Modification
• Global Universal Design Educator's Network e-mail list
• Calendar (opens a different window)
• Adding your information, questions to the Online News

EDITOR'S NOTE

Ten countries are represented in this issue. Check out the policy-related efforts in Afghanistan, Venice, and the United Kingdom "Access Statements." Learn more about universal design in information and learning from three sources:  the RNIB and a journal in the UK and at the US-based AHEAD conference. Review the upcoming conferences: Designing for the 21st Century III has the extraordinary full program online and an urban design conference is being developed in Bahrain. Check out the continuing concern for housing in the research project in Portugal, between a university and industry, more information from the UK on Lifetime Homes, and the US opportunity to replicate the successful Easy Living Home (cm) program that began in Georgia. Think about the awards and competitions you might enter: they include the UK access areas award and two in the US: the Dyson/IDSA industrial design student competition and the PVA awards. Enjoy the many examples and resources from Toyota in Japan, the UK’s new website for inclusive design at the RSA and books sold in the US through the mass retailer, Home Depot. Don’t forget user needs: see the Australian journal and the US-based survey on consumer products from Georgia Tech.

NOTE: the June-July Calendar was sent earlier. We will continue this practice in the future, to minimize the length of the issue. Information from the Online News may be freely copied and quoted as long as the individual author, and/or web site and this source is cited. Previous issues of the Online News are available online at the Global Universal Design Education Network website at: 
http://www.universaldesign.net.

NEWS FROM THE GLOBAL NETWORK

AFGHANISTAN

In late 2003, the Afghan Task Force on Disability completed the Comprehensive National Disability Policy under the framework of the National Constitution. The vision of this Comprehensive National Disability Policy is to create a barrier-free society in Afghanistan based on the principles of participation, integration and the equalization of opportunities, defined by the United Nations in its World Programme of Action concerning Disabled Persons; the Standard Rules for the Equalization of Opportunities for Disabled Persons; The Biwako Millennium Framework for Action towards an Inclusive, Barrier-free and Rights-based Society for Persons with Disabilities in the Asia and Pacific region, and more recently in the elaboration for the International Convention to Protect and Promote the Rights of Disabled Persons. 

For more, see: http://www.disabilityworld.org/01-03_04/gov/afghanistan.shtml

AUSTRALIA

The current issue (#1-2004) of this on-line publication is titled "Using it all up - user centred design." The theme is intended to provoke exploration of the potential contradictions of user-centred design defined here as an advocated disposition towards designing. User-centred design is often promoted as ‘socially responsible’ because it focuses on how people actually interact with specific products and designed environments, rather than prioritising product form and appearance. The papers published constitute a broad spectrum of understandings and dispositions towards user-centred design and its perceived problems.

For more, see: http://www.desphilosophy.com/dpp/home.html

BAHRAIN

Heritage, Globalization and the Built Environment 

For more information, see: http://www.engineer-bh.com/hgbe/topics.htm#topics

BRAZIL

You can now review the wide-ranging program for the Designing for the 21st Century III: An International Conference on Universal Design at the conference website: http://www.designfor21st.org/.  The conference will be held December 7-12, 2004 in Rio de Janeiro with more than 200 sessions over the course of six days. There are multiple opportunities for the growing number of practitioners and promoters of universal design worldwide to engage with each other as multi-disciplinary colleagues. Designers, educators, leaders from disability, aging and sustainability organizations, business, media and government are invited to participate in this extensive, in-depth event.

The opportunities for intensive interaction and participation include the Pre-conference charettes, most of which take place in local settings in collaboration with local agencies and organizations; the Working groups during the Core conference and in the Post conference sessions: the International Educator’s Forum and Latin American Strategic Planning Forum.

Adaptive Environments, a 25-year-old USA-based non-governmental organization, continues in its role as primary Host for the Designing for the 21st Century Conferences. Centro de Vida Independente do Rio de Janeiro (CVI-Rio), the first independent living center in Latin America, is Host Partner. Co-Sponsors are NEC Foundation of America, the United Nations Global Programme on Disability and the Universal Design Consortium (Japan). Metropolis magazine is Media Sponsor.

Presenters are from 32 different nations and conference delegates are expected from at least 50 nations. Globally, English is the dominant language in over 60 nations and commonly understood as the lingua franca of the present time. However, Designing for the 21st Century III is about dialogue across cultures. Brazilians speak Portuguese and the rest of the hemisphere speaks Spanish. All Pre-Conference sessions and as many Core Conference sessions as possible will be simultaneously translated into Portuguese, and to the maximum extent possible, also into Spanish.

Keynote speakers and presenters include: Francesc Aragall, President, Design for All Foundation, Barcelona, former President, European Institute on Design and Disability, Spain; Singapalli Balaram, Principal Designer and Senior Professor at the National Institute of Design, the Head of the Interdisciplinary Design Studies, Chairperson of Knowledge Management Centre, India; Roger Coleman, Professor of Inclusive Design, Co-Director of the Helen Hamlyn Research Centre at the Royal College of Art (RCA), UK; Jean-Pierre Gonnot, Chief, Inclusive Development Section, DESA, United Nations; Judy Heumann, World Bank, Advisor on Disability and Development, USA; Jaime Lerner [Invited], President, International Union of Architects, former Mayor of Curitiba and Governor of Paranha, Brazil; Patricia Moore, internationally known gerontologist and industrial designer, USA; Jim Sandhu, Principal, Inclusive Design Research Associates Limited, former President, European Institute for Design and Disability, UK; Susan Szenasy, Editor-in-Chief, Metropolis magazine, USA; Riadh Tappuni, Ph.D., Senior Urban Development Officer, UN Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia, Beirut, Lebanon; C.J. Walsh, Chief Technical Consultant, Sustainable Design International Ltd., Member, EU 2004 Working Group on Urban Environment Research, Ireland; Lesley Kanes Weisman, Professor Emeritus, New Jersey Institute of Technology and author of more than 50 texts including Discrimination by Design: A Feminist Critique of the Man-Made Environment, USA; and John Zeisel, Ph.D., Co-Founder and President of Hearthstone Alzheimer Care, author of many books and articles including Inquiry by Design: Tools for Environment-Behavior Research, USA.

Details of sessions and presenters for all three elements of the Designing for the 21st Century III conference, the Pre-Conference Intensive Sessions, the Core Conference and the Post-Conference, can be found on the conference website, at: http://www.designfor21st.org/

GREECE

Olympic Games and Accessibility

To read more on this program, see: http://www.athens2004.com/athens2004/page/legacy?lang=en&cid=
d388470429149f00VgnVCMServer28130b0aRCRD

ITALY

Venice - Architectural Barriers Plan

The article came courtesy of the 6/14/04 issue of buongiorno@veniceword.com.  For more news from Venice, visit: www.veniceword.com

For more information on PEBA (in Italian), see: http://www.regione.veneto.it/Territorio+ed+Ambiente/Lavori+Pubblici/Barriere+architettoniche/
PEBA+2003.htm
 
 

JAPAN

Toyota’s Universal Design Showcase

Tall, short, male, female, plump, slim, young, mature, elderly-we are all so different in so many ways. This Toyota showroom offers an opportunity to notice for oneself the importance of universal design, a design approach that strives to accommodate the differences in the ways individuals use a product.

For more information on the Universal Design showcase (part of Mega Web), see: http://www.megaweb.gr.jp/Uds/English/guide.html

PORTUGAL

House of the Future Project

The House of the Future at University of Aveiro (UA CdF) Project aims to establish multidisciplinary R&D teams from University of Aveiro to participate in the conception and construction of the House of the Future demonstration unit, whilst promoting their synergies and their own internal dynamics.  This project (UA CdF) is the result of a successful cooperation between companies from the habitat field (currently 12) and the University of Aveiro. This cooperation started with a university program aimed to develop the regional industry, sponsored by the Portuguese Ministry of Economy, but took specific shape around the idea of building together a House of the Future demonstration unit. The project was named House of the Future (ProjCdf), and its concept has had an impact on the University itself. 

For more information, see: http://www.egi.ua.pt/casadofuturo/En/inicial.htm

SERBIA AND MONTENEGRO

Seminar on Universal Design

The first seminar about universal design for students and experts in the field of architecture, urbanism, traffic, design and law, organized by the Association of Disabled Students of Novi Sad in cooperation with the Faculty of Technical Sciences, University of Novi Sad, took place in Novi Sad City Hole on April 24, 2004. The goal of this seminar was to inform students and experts about different aspects of physical accessibility and accessible information by pointing out national and international regulations, their implementation, consequences and sanctions for not respecting them, as well as the advantages of multidisciplinary approach in building an accessible environment.

During the preparation period various national, European and American standards and regulations as well as the concept of universal design development were collected. Most of these texts are now accessible in the Serbian language. About 200 English and French pages have been translated for this occasion and collected in a sort of textbook that was forwarded to university libraries, institutions for design and building and to organizations of people with disabilities whose representatives attended the program.

For the full article, see: http://www.disabilityworld.org/04-05_04/access/udseminar.shtml

SLOVENIA

European Mobility Award 2004

The city of Ljubljana (Slovenia) was appointed as the official winner of the European Mobility Week award 2004. The award, presented by European Commissioner for environment Margot Wallström during an official ceremony held in Brussels, recognizes local action to promote sustainable transport in European cities and towns. Special focus was given to permanent measures taken in favor of the accessibility of disabled people, theme of last year’s European Mobility Week.

Ljubljana's local authorities launched several permanent measures in line with the European Mobility Week Charter, including:  Increasing of the parking places for people with disabilities; Installing ramps for wheelchair users in the passenger centre of the local public transport operator; Organizing a round table, in close cooperation with the Slovenian National Council of Disabled People, on bus and bus stop accessibility and the attitude of drivers towards disabled users.

To read the full article, see: http://www.disabilityworld.org/04-05_04/access/ljubljana.shtml

UNITED KINGDOM

"Access All Area" Awards

The Access All Areas Awards recognise small and medium sized enterprises that have made their services accessible to disabled people in innovative and creative ways. The Awards are run by the Department for Work and Pensions and supported by Vodafone.  The closing date for this years entries is 30 September 2004.  The web site includes information about last years award winners.

For more information, see: http://www.disability.gov.uk/dda/awards/

DRC Access Statements

The Disability Rights Commission (DRC) has announced the publication of guidance on Access Statements: "Achieving an inclusive environment by ensuring continuity throughout the planning, design and management of buildings and spaces".  This is part of a campaign to get information to businesses in advance of October 2004.  On October 1, 2004 the new law goes into affect stating that where a physical feature makes it impossible or unreasonably difficult for disabled persons to access your goods or services, your organization is required to take reasonable steps to: "Remove the feature;’ or Alter it so it no longer has that effect; or Provide a reasonable means of avoiding the feature; or Provide a reasonable alternative method of making the service available." 

For general "Access to Services" information, see: http://www.drc-gb.org/businessandservices/access.asp   and see the Access Statements themselves, as a document, see: http://www.drc.org.uk/uploaded_files/documents/15_97_AccessStatements.doc

Joseph Rowntree Foundation / Habinteg Lifetime homes

The Joseph Rowntree Foundation / Habinteg Lifetime homes web site has recently been updated and worth a look at if you are interested in the design of new accessible homes.

Lifetime Homes make life as easy as possible, for as long as possible because they are thoughtfully designed. They are homes for everyone and bring benefits to anyone who lives in them because of the individual choices that they make possible.  The flexibility and adaptability of Lifetime Homes accommodate life events quickly, cost-effectively and without upheaval.  The site discusses the 16 Lifetime Homes standards, presents some case studies and has a library section that includes information on Design, Planning, Construction, Cost, and 21st Century Living.

For information on Lifetime Homes, see: http://www.lifetimehomes.org.uk/

RIBA - Inclusive Design In Schools

On July 12, 2004, the Royal Institute of British Architecture (RIBA) Schools Forum in partnership with SENJIT- Institute of Education is hosting a conference on inclusive design in schools. Areas to be explored include designing within a DDA framework, Building Bulletin 77 and standardized public sports facilities in schools. The conference takes place at the Brunei Gallery at the School of Oriental and African Studies in London's Russell Square and will be accompanied by a one-day DfES exhibition on exemplary school design and launch of a new CABE/RIBA Building Futures publication, Learning Environments for the Future.

More information will be posted at: www.architecture.com on the school forum/client forum pages or www.architecture.com/go/Architecture/Debate/Forums_3244.html.

RNIB & Accessible Web Design

Royal National Institute of the Blind (RNIB) has launched a campaign for good web design. Thousands of blind and partially sighted people in the United Kingdom are now using the Internet to find an enormous amount of information and to use services that were previously unavailable to them, such as online shopping and banking, timetable information, sports results, news, TV and radio listings, etc. An ordinary computer can be equipped with synthesized speech output or braille display technology to enable people who can't see the computer screen easily to use the Internet either through sound or by touch. This new technology has the potential to revolutionize the lives of visually impaired people, who until now have been forced to rely on other people for information. However, the technology for visually impaired people relies on good web site coding, and will only work properly if web pages are written in correct HTML (hypertext mark-up language). Blind people find many web sites unusable because the coding falls below an acceptable standard. RNIB feels this is unacceptable. In some cases, it may also be unlawful.

To learn more about the campaign, information, see: http://www.rnib.org.uk/xpedio/groups/public/documents/publicwebsite/public_goodwebdesign.hcsp

RSA Inclusive Design Resource and Exhibits Online

The Royal Society for the encouragement of Arts, Manufactures & Commerce (RSA) is collaborating with the Design Council to develop online inclusive design resources for education and business and design professionals. A new resource will be launched on 30 June.  The resource, RSA Inclusive Design Resource, will make key information available to students, tutors and design professionals. It contains contextual information as well as information on strategies, tools and methods, together with useful case studies. The site itself is an example of inclusive design.

Additionally, RSA has posted the winners of its RSA Design Directions Competition.  A campaign to engage greater voter participation, an inclusive transport interchange, an environmentally friendly bamboo water bottle and stamps bearing a powerful message about genetic modification are among the winning designs in RSA Design Directions 2003-04.  To be posted by June 30th will be the winners of the "Inclusive Worlds" category where students were given a number of areas/scenarios and asked to submit designs that took into account the greatest number of potential users. These areas included, among others, domestic and public environments and how they can be made more inclusive and more accessible; how interfaces that limit exclusion can be better designed to accommodate those normally excluded, by providing greater access and also facilitating greater independence and autonomy; fashion and clothing, and how smart wearables can change lives.

When the RSA Inclusive Design Resource site launches, it will be available at: www.thersa.org/inclusivedesign

For the RSA Design Directions Award winners, please see: http://www.rsa-design.net/directions/2003-04/exh/index.htm

Web and Aging: Challenges and Opportunities, Journal Issue

The Universal Access in the Information Society (UAIS) Journal solicits original research contributions addressing the accessibility, usability and acceptability of Information Society Technologies by anyone, anywhere, at anytime, and through any media and device. Universal access refers to the systematic effort to proactively apply principles, methods and tools of universal design, in order to develop Information Society Technologies, which are accessible and usable by all citizens.  The Journal's unique focus is on theoretical, methodological, and empirical research, of both technological and non-technological nature, that addresses equitable access and active participation of potentially all citizens in the Information Society. 

There is a special issue planned (1 July 2004 deadline) titled "Web and Aging: Challenges and Opportunities."  Recent research shows that older adults are beginning to incorporate Web use in their daily activities, mainly because the Web presents an opportunity for them to maintain a high quality of life. As a consequence, a variety of new opportunities and challenges related to the use of the Web by older adults arise in a Universal Access perspective.  The main objective of this special issue is to bring together work by researchers, academics and practitioners from various disciplines who are interested in the interrelationships among web access, web usability and ageing. Contributions on novel methodologies, theories, products and design guidelines that address these issues, as well as on related case studies, are solicited.

For the call, see: http://www.soi.city.ac.uk/~zaphiri/UAIS-Aging/

UNITED STATES

A special collaboration has resulted in a new garden at the Fircrest Residential Habilitation Center, a facility for people who are severely disabled, near Seattle, Washington. The garden's design and construction were completed by a design/ build studio of two dozen University of Washington students from the departments of architecture, landscape architecture, and art.  What the students finally produced is not only fully accessible, it inspires the visual, tactile, olfactory, and auditory senses and provides a safe, calming place for residents to gather or to wander. 

For the complete article, see: http://www.architectureweek.com/2004/0609/building_1-1.html

AHEAD - 27th Annual Conference: Leading the Dance

The Association on Higher Education and Disability (AHEAD) conference will take place July 13-17, 2004 in Miami. Thomas Hehir, EdD; Director, School Leadership Program, Harvard Graduate School of Education is the conference keynoter, with "Confronting Ableism in Education." AHEAD is the premier networking opportunity for disability service colleagues from around the world.

Multiple sessions on universal design illustrate AHEAD’s commitment to universal design. These include pre-conference intensives: Keeping Our Eyes on the Prize: Leadership and Management of Disability Services; Working with Faculty Toward Universal Design; Aligning the Pieces: A UDL Approach to Online Learning for All. Concurrent sessions include: Accessibility: More than Ramps and Automatic Doors-Duke University's Collaboration Dance to Accessibility; Creating Accessible Campus Services for Students with Disabilities: Tools for Professional Development; Creating Accessible Distance - Learning Websites; Exploring the Equity and Excellence Universal Design for Learning Tool Kit; Increasing Participation, Performance and Persistence - Universal Design for Learning in Postsecondary Instruction; Making Campus Web Pages Accessible: Policy and Administration; Student and Faculty Perceptions of Inclusive College Instruction; and Universal Design: It's A Big Universe! How Do I Start?

For details on the conference, see: http://www.ahead.org/train/conference/2004/index.html

The Dyson/IDSA "An Eye for Why" Designing and Engineering Competition

Dyson, Inc. and the Industrial Design Society of America, (IDSA) have teamed up to challenge industrial design students to create an innovative household product that reflects Dyson's philosophy and commitment to intelligent, function-first design and will be designed to work better by solving a problem.  The deadline for submission is December 5, 2004. The winning product will reflect Dyson's philosophy and commitment to intelligent, function-first design and will be designed to work better by solving a problem. In addition, the design must be founded on sound research and human factors. Each entry will be judged for creativity and ingenuity of features. The competition is open to undergraduate and graduate industrial design students enrolled in any of the NASAD-accredited (National Association of Schools of Art & Design) degree programs or individual student members of IDSA enrolled in undergraduate or graduate programs.

For more information on the challenge, see: 
http://new.idsa.org/webmodules/articles/anmviewer.asp?a=921&z=31

The EasyLiving Home (cm) Program Expanding Beyond Georgia

EasyLiving Home (cm) is the nation's first voluntary certification program that specifies criteria in everyday home construction to add convenience in new homes and to welcome all friends, family and visitors regardless of age, size or physical ability.  Builders pay a small fee per house to receive technical assistance and use of the EasyLiving Home (cm) brand name, and then an EasyLiving Home (cm) coalition member checks the home for compliance and awards certification. 

Officially launched in Georgia in 2001, the program now boasts more than twenty participating Georgia for-profit homebuilders and fifty certified homes…and these numbers are growing. 

With "visitability" becoming better known nationally, the market for universally designed houses larger than ever, and many inquiries about EasyLiving Home (cm) from around the nation, the Georgia coalition has decided it is time to implement the program beyond Georgia. Over the next year the Georgia coalition will select coalitions from across the country that want to replicate the Easy Living Home certification program.

They are looking for enthusiastic groups of people to form coalitions that encompass a large metropolitan area, or a whole state.   Each coalition would include for-profit homebuilders—preferably a commitment to full participation from a Statewide or large metropolitan Home Builders Association.  It would also include a commitment from one or more statewide or large metropolitan disability-related organizations such as Statewide Independent Living Council, an Independent Living Center, a Governor’s Council on Developmental Disabilities, or similar group. 

The coalition should be able to dedicate the resources for one member or staff person of a Home Builders Association and one member or staff person of a disability-related organization to attend a two-day Replication Summit to be held in Atlanta (evening of September 18 through morning of September 20, 2004).   Costs will include flights, hotel room and meals, and a Summit registration fee.

If you have an interest in getting involved in your state and would like to get more information about the summit and becoming an official EasyLiving Home (cm affiliate, please email Mettina van der Veen, Replication Project Director, at Mettina@easylivinghome.org, or phone her at 404-723-5503. 

The Georgia coalition is grateful to the National Endowment for the Arts, Universal Design Leadership Initiative for funding the Replication Project Director position and other replication-related costs. For more information on the program in Georgia, visit their website: www.easylivinghome.org

Georgia Tech Survey on Universal Design of Consumer-oriented Products

Georgia Tech Research Institute (GTRI) is conducting a survey for a research project that is designed to address the universal design of consumer-oriented products.  The goal of the survey is to measure user perceptions of attempts at building accessibility features into products such as ATMs, cell phones, personal digital assistants (PDAs), on-line training software, distance learning software, voice recognition technologies, and televisions.  Respondent’s answers will assist us in judging the impact of efforts of the Federal Government to promote accessible design practices.  The survey will be open until October 1st 2004.

The call for participation is at: http://www.ncbvi.state.ne.us/callforparticipation.htm and it includes information on how to request a paper copy of the survey.

To access the on-line survey directly, visit: http://aef.gtri.gatech.edu/universal_design.html

Home Depot Books Include Universal Design Chapters

Meredith Publishing on behalf of Home Depot has produced two new publications, Bathroom Design and Planning 1-2-3 and Kitchen Design and Planning 1-2-3. Significantly, each book includes a chapter on universal design which incorporate the seven Principles of Universal Design key design principles: Equitable use, flexibility in use, simple and intuitive use, perceptible information, tolerance for error, low physical effort, size and space for approach use. Photographs show universal design at work and inspire readers to invest in design features now that will make their homes free of obstacles and enjoyable for all for various life's stages and changes. Universal design makes these spaces efficient, usable, and comfortable for all, while still maintaining style. The Center for Universal Design, College of Design, North Carolina State University, provided in-depth review and editing with the addition of some features and content.

The books may be obtained at your local Home Depot, http://www.homedepot.com , or via Amazon.com, http://www.amazon.com

For more information on the Center for Universal Design, see: http://www.design.ncsu.edu/cud/

LEAD Conference for Cultural Settings

The LEAD (Leadership Exchange in Arts and Disability) Conference for ADA/504 Coordinators and Accessibility Managers working at Museums, Theaters, Arts and Performing Arts Centers, Entertainment and Concert Venues, and Cultural and Arts Service Organizations, will be held August 12-14, 2004 in Washington, D.C.   This is a unique national professional network devoted to training emerging leaders who are dedicated to, not only complying with Federal laws and legislation, but setting the standards for and engaging in best practices in the field.

Training and Conference Highlights: sessions with experts on a wide variety of current and topical accessibility issues, training on key issues of policy and procedure, exhibit and vendor resources including accessible technologies, effective communication tools, and specific information on products and services, small open forums for exploration of best practices in the field and one-on-one consultations on accessibility for your organization's website. Also, meet and engage in open dialogue with John Wodatch, Chief of the Disability Rights Section in the Civil Rights Division of the U.S. Department of Justice, and share your ideas and learn what has helped make other organizations accessible to people with disabilities.

For conference details, see: http://www.kennedy-center.org/accessibility/KC_LeadConf_04.pdf

National Low Impact Development Student Design Competition

In conjunction with the National Low Impact Development Conference in Washington, D.C. September 21-23, 2004, we are pleased to announce the National Low Impact Development Student Design Competition.  This competition is an opportunity for students to investigate integrative technologies in sustainable design and environmental stewardship, compete for design awards and learn about innovative sustainable Low Impact Development techniques. This national competition invites students and academic programs to submit design and planning problems and solutions that respond to the innovative and creative use of Low Impact Development techniques in the built environment. 

Details and registration forms can be found at http://www.larch.umd.edu/LIDSITE/index.htm

PVA’s Barrier-Free America Award

Annually, the Paralyzed Veterans of America (PVA) honors an individual for their outstanding contribution toward a barrier-free environment.  The annual presentation of the Barrier-Free America Award is a chance to recognize an individual for his/her sensitivity to the importance of accessible design, as well as the difference this individual has made through a particular project in achieving a barrier-free environment. In 2004, they honored Fredric Bell, FAIA, for the accessibility of the redevelopment plans for lower Manhattan.  The deadline for this years’ award nominations is November 5, 2004. 

For more information on past award winners and the submission procedures for the 2005 Award, see: http://www.pva.org/livingsci/architecture/bfa.htm

Understanding Universal Design & Access Design

The Health and Human Services Office on Disability is co-sponsoring, with the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, Fannie Mae Corporation, NCB Development Corporation, and the Department of Housing and Urban Development, a Housing Symposium for Persons with Disabilities - Understanding Universal Design and Access Modification on June 30,2004. 

The Symposium Objectives are: Help national disability-based constituent organization representatives understand the important role each has in supporting their membership advocacy for and/or sponsoring of homeownership; understand key aspects of universal design and access modifications/retrofitting, such as financing, policy, and technical design issues, so that persons with disabilities can effectively promote the use of these mechanisms; provide best practices and lessons learned from experts and state and local communities in addressing universal design and access modifications; and provide a roadmap on obtaining residential-based universal design and access modifications for persons with disabilities.
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More information, including the agenda, panelist's bios, Power Point presentations, and other supporting documents will be available at www.hhs.gov/od, posted under "Meetings and Events."

Global Universal Design Educator's Network e-mail list

Adding your information, questions to the Online News: 

To subscribe to the Online News, send an e-mail message to the same address. There is no charge.

Elaine Ostroff, Editor. Director of the Global Universal Design Educator's Network and Founding Director, Adaptive Environments

Diane Richard, Editorial Assistant. Center for Universal Design, College of Design, North Carolina State University

The Global Universal Design Educator's Online News is produced and published through contracts with the Center for Universal Design and the Adaptive Environments Center, in cooperation with the National Institute on Rehabilitation Research.