This document summarizes the CAP4Access project, which aims to improve accessibility in European cities for people with limited mobility. The project will develop online tools to document and discuss accessibility locations and routes. It will also enable route planning and visualization of accessibility data. The project involves partners from several European countries and universities. It will engage end-users like those with disabilities to participatorily develop and evaluate the tools over three years. The project will also make policy recommendations and measure impacts like increased accessibility awareness and social inclusion.

1. CAP4Access
Collective Awareness Platforms for Improving
Accessibility in European Cities & Regions
First CAPS Concertation Meeting
Brussels, 4 February, 2014
1

2. Project focus & target groups
Focus:
u Accessibility of the built environment to people with limited
mobility
u People in wheelchairs, with walking aids, push-chairs etc.
Target groups:
u End-users, i.e. people requiring enhanced accessibility
u Grassroots initiatives supporting people with disabilities;
policy-makers, planners and service providers with
responsibility for the built environment; and the general
public.
2

3. Project objectives
The project will develop online tools and methods for:
u Documentation, annotation and discussion of locations and
routes within the built environment according to their
accessibility;
u Visualising the data in ways which are intuitive and highly
attractive for target users;
u Route planning and navigation for target users;
u Creating awareness and preparing effective measures at local
level for eliminating barriers for people with limited mobility.
3

4. Project partners
Fraunhofer Institute for Intelligent
Analysis & Information Systems,
St.Augustin
empirica Bonn
(Coordinator)
Sozialhelden e.V., Berlin
Zentrum für Soziale Innovation
(ZSI), Vienna
Polibienestar Research Institute,
University of Valencia
Elche City Council,
Spain
University of Heidelberg,
GIScience Research Group
MappingForChange, London
University College London,
Accessibility Research Group
4

5. Project timeline
Workpackage
January 2014
January 2015
January 2016
December 2016
Month 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36
WP1
Conceptual and methodological framework
WP2
User community engagement, use case
development, participatory evaluation
WP3
Participatory development of CAP4access
tools & applications
WP4
Policy recommendations
WP5
Exploitation and dissemination
WP6
Project management
5

6. Public Relations
Project platform MyAccessible.EU
6

7. Proposals for synergies between
CAPS projects
● Identify elements in other CAPS projects which are
(potentially) related to social inclusion
● In particularly targeting people with disabilities
● Accessibility of the built environment in cities and regions
● Check if joint approaches can increase visibility & impact
● Explore harmonised procedures and metrics
●
... for analysis of CAPS impacts
● Identify common challenges related to project planning
within FP7/H2020 funding frameworks
●
●
Need for advance planning vis-à-vis user-driven development
How to enable truly open-ended RTD?
7

8. Impact assessment: Approaches
● Degree of participation of the end-user target group
●
●
●
Knowledge about target group (universe) required
Share of target group participating
Intensity of participation (frequency, depth)
● Extent of awareness about barriers to accessibility (in the
built environment)
●
●
●
Awareness among the end-user target group
Awareness among the general public
Awareness among secondary target groups (polcy-makers, planners)
● Impacts re effective social inclusion
●
●
Direct: Costs & benefits from the viewpoint of end users
Indirect: Removal of physical barriers
8