Universal design for a sustainable future

Over 300 researchers, experts, practitioners and representatives from disability organisations were gathered in Oslo in November to get new perspectives on universal design, UD. The conference offered practical examples from many countries and sectors as well as workshops and panel discussions.

– Universal design is important for each individual, but also for us as a society, because every time we exclude people, we lose important resources. We are missing out on different voices or new ideas, says Norwegian Minister of Culture and Equality, Lubna Jaffery.

Universal design promotes sustainability

Keynote speaker professor Anna Lawson from University of Leeds highlighted the link between universal design and human rights.

– Human rights can only be fulfilled through a universal design approach. Universal design is embedded in, and a pre-condition for, the fulfilment of human rights, says Anna Lawson.

Masumi Ono from the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs emphasized the connection between universal design and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) when working towards a more sustainable future for all.

– We believe that universal design can be instrumental in our efforts to realize the SDG:s, says Masumi Ono.

UD principles can be applied in many areas related to the SDG:s – for example in technology, transport infrastructure and disaster risk reduction. Masumi Ono uses SDG 4, inclusive and equitable quality education as an example.

– While significant progress has been made for SDG 4, children with disabilities still face considerable barriers in accessing education.

Age-friendly cities with universal design

The aging population is a global challenge and increases the need for universal design. The World Health Organization (WHO) framework for Age-friendly cities identify several overlapping factors that can help to identify and address barriers to the well-being and participation of older adults. When it comes to factors like housing, land use, walkability and green infrastructure, these need to be universally designed to best promote inclusivity and active participation.

– Universal design is a tool in making cities age-friendly, explains Ira Verma, senior scientist at Aalto University in Finland, and part of the research group for health and wellbeing architecture, SOTERA.

Her research looks at how cities can be adapted for older adults through universal design.

– The majority of the municipalities in Finland have made plans for age-friendliness, but less than half have made any decisions about actions, says Ira Verma.

A city needs to be walkable, with enough benches to rest on, and public transport needs to be seamless and accessible. And a safe and accessible home is of course the heart of the age-friendly city for each individual. New apartment buildings with high accessibility standards can be expensive to live in.

– We need more various types of housing so we can avoid and delay that people have to move into more expensive residential services. Multigenerational communities and co-housing options for people living alone are needed, says Ira Verma.

Read more about the Nordic network for age-friendly cities and communities.

Inclusive architecture for persons with dementia

Architecture can promote inclusiveness. The Carpe Diem dementia village in Bærum outside of Oslo is an example of inclusive architecture for a vulnerable group of people.

– The main purpose is to create a home, an ultimate nursing home where people with dementia can live as normal lives as possible and still be connected to the community outside. It should attend to basic human needs and be a pleasant place for their families to come and visit, explains Camilla Heier Anglero, Partner and Head of Healthcare Design at the Nordic Office of Architecture.

The complex consists of two levels of care: 136 communal housing units and 22 high-care dementia units. There are several welcoming common areas such the square or garden outside with a greenhouse. In addition there are the many social meeting places inside like the community center, the café, fitness facilities, the arts and crafts room, beauty salon, and even a pub.

– What we see after almost three years is that people are thriving. It is still a pilot project, but we are hoping that there will be more brave municipalities and private investors that that dare to think differently when building for people with dementia, and to make their own Carpe Diem, says Camilla Heier Anglero.

Differences in the Nordic countries

The Nordic countries have different approaches to universal design. Sidse Grangaard from Aalborg university, Per-Olof Hedvall from Mid Sweden University and Inger Marie Lid from VID Specialized University have compared UD policies in Denmark, Sweden and Norway.

The implementation of UD in the three countries differed in strategic approach and interpretation of UD. In both Norway and Sweden, the areas of planning and buildings are combined into a single act, while they are separated in Denmark. Norway has developed its own legal definition of UD, implemented at the macro level.

– Sometimes we understand universal design as a state, or a solution. Other times we see universal design as an act, explains Sidse Grangaard.

The researchers recommend that universal design should be understood more than an act than a state, and to ensure that universal design is seen as a human rights concept that embraces human diversity.

AI as a risk

The rise of artificial intelligence poses both opportunities and risks for persons with disabilities. AI can recognize speech, filter sounds, find objects or patterns, remember forward and remind on time, detect common mistakes – to name a few fields of use for persons with disabilities. But AI also makes the users vulnerable.

– The way AI is currently designed is hostile to difference, and disability implies difference from the average, says keynote speaker Jutta Treviranus, Director of the Inclusive Design Research Centre (IDRC) and professor in the faculty of Design at OCAD University in Toronto.

Privacy breaches, surveillance, manipulation and homogenization are obvious risks.

– AI in its present form is poised to make everything worse for people that are already struggling and make everything better for people who are already doing well, says Jutta Treviranus.

The goal of AI is to sound believable, not to tell the truth. Jutta Treviranus points out that AI sounds most confident when it repeats stereotypes. The data about disability that has been fed AI is not balanced, fact-based or inclusive.

– It is a horrifying cocktail of ableist slurs, disabled people seen as inferior, unattractive, tragic victims, or suffering – and there are plenty of bad jokes involving disability. And then we had benevolent ableism or what have been called “inspiration porn”. None of this makes a good data pool, says Treviranus.

While legislation is needed to regulate AI, Jutta Treviranus also suggests creating tools to reduce harm. To do this, it is necessary to move from the dominant algorithm – Treviranus speaks about inverting the algorithm to achieve diversification and to find missing perspectives.

– We need to create systems to prevent data abuse and misuse. We need to ensure transparency regarding how the data is used, says Jutta Treviranus.