Geografie bariér: Příklady dobrých bezbariérových realizací
Geography of barriers: Examples of good barrier-free implementations
Contributor(s): Robert Osman (Editor)
Subject(s): Human Geography, Environmental Geography, Public Administration, Government/Political systems, Social development, Social differentiation, Health and medicine and law, Rural and urban sociology, Environmental interactions, ICT Information and Communications Technologies
Published by: Masarykova univerzita nakladatelství
Keywords: geography of barriers; disability studies; disability geography; social geography; urban digital accessibility; urban space; urban accessability; mapping of barriers; public administration;
Summary/Abstract: The book Geography of Barriers: Examples of Good Barrier-free Practice offers a collection of texts that are interested in making space, services, and information accessible. Thus, the collection is primarily about barriers, their nature, localization, and possible effects. Under barriers, most people imagine material barriers for wheelchair users in the form of steps or sidewalk curbs. Only a few would think that barriers can be represented by loosely placed rugs, unfit lighting, large glass surface, a doorbell without visual output, unwanted attention, frequent asking and offering help, lack of language knowledge, pity, etc. Thus, the book broadens awareness of what can be considered a barrier. The texts are divided into three parts – theoretical, methodic, and empirical – and their arrangement follows the logic of thematic focusing from the most general to the most concrete types of barriers. While the theoretical part places the policies of accessibility into the wider context of scientific disciplines and their development – such as disability studies, disability geography or service design, the methodic part discusses the introduction of accessibility policies in the city of Brno, describing how it tried to make its space, services, and information more accessible. Finally, the empirical part offers 18 examples of relatively good barrier-free implementations that have been recently realized in Brno. This division reflects an effort to target several groups of readers. The first part thus addresses mainly students interested in accessibility issues, the second, methodic part is intended for politicians and municipalities searching for inspiration to implement their own accessibility measures and policies. The last part stating concrete examples of good barrier-free implementations is aimed at general public, at people who like to think about a whole range of topics related to accessibility of space, services, and information.
- E-ISBN-13: 978-80-210-9910-4
- Page Count: 482
- Publication Year: 2021
- Language: Czech
Geografie bariér
Geografie bariér
(Geography of Barriers)
- Author(s):Veronika Kotýnková Krotká, Hana Porkertová, Robert Osman
- Language:Czech
- Subject(s):Human Geography, Social Philosophy, Public Administration, Government/Political systems, Politics and society, Social development, Rural and urban sociology
- Page Range:23-47
- No. of Pages:25
- Keywords:accessibility of space; establishing policies of accessibility in the Czech Republic;
- Summary/Abstract:The first chapter of the book has multiple goals. It introduces the topics and the chosen title Geography of Barriers and discusses why it is important to study it. It shows how the above-mentioned accessibility of space, services and information depends on various types of barriers. Their influence on policies of accessibility in public space frames the whole book. Thinking about barriers is not limited to the dimension of streets or squares, but considers the broader meaning of barriers: in public buildings, institutions, services, websites, information systems, applications, etc. A barrier does not have to be material, it can be of social, communication, or technological nature. Our book distinguishes among three types of barriers. The first type is represented by those annoying material high curbs, missing guide, unlabeled earthwork, etc.—i.e., the barriers of our everyday life. When talking about examples of removing the first type of barriers, we already consider the second type—so-called political barriers one encounters in the introduction of policies of accessibility. The last type of barriers is devoted only peripheral attention, being represented by so-called post-socialist barriers, i.e., barriers stemming from the meaning of disability in a post-socialist society.
Studia postižení
Studia postižení
(Disability Studies)
- Author(s):Hana Porkertová
- Language:Czech
- Subject(s):Media studies, Social Philosophy, Politics and society, Social development, Health and medicine and law, Social Norms / Social Control
- Page Range:51-74
- No. of Pages:24
- Keywords:social model of disability; ability and disability;
- Summary/Abstract:The chapter talks about the development of disability studies and its key points such as the intersection of activism and academia, the social model of disability, or interconnection of various disciplines. The ways of thinking about ability, disability, normal and abnormal bodies and people, are highly formed by the society—by education, media, expert and lay discourses ranging from medicine to social policy—and influence how cities, streets and houses are designed. Therefore, the aim of disability studies is to change the discourses and modes of behavior so that they are more inclusive. The chapter discusses beginnings of this field at the interconnections of activism and academia, and its difficult position in the Czech Republic, where it is not an established major at any university. Here, especially the public discourse revolves around the medical model of disability that sees the core of the problem in one’s impairment, instead of focusing on disabling processes leading to discrimination, which the social model of disability, pivotal for disability studies, does. However, the chapter also discusses various critiques of the social model.
Geografie znevýhodnění
Geografie znevýhodnění
(Disability Geography)
- Author(s):Robert Osman
- Language:Czech
- Subject(s):Human Geography, Social differentiation, Health and medicine and law, Rural and urban sociology
- Page Range:75-121
- No. of Pages:47
- Keywords:disability geography; social geography; relationship between space and the body; experience of people with physical impairment;
- Summary/Abstract:This chapter offers a Czech introduction to a subdiscipline of social geography—disability geography, its development and main research topics. It also grounds the whole book and our project in a broader thinking about the relationship between space and the body. In between the general beginning towards a concrete ending of this book, it turns our attention from the study of disability to space and shows how space participates on social disadvantage and this disadvantage is inscribed in space. The chapter focuses on the interactions of diverse bodies with diverse space and notices, what these interactions enable and what they disable, and how certain spaces participate in dis/abling and enabling of certain bodies. The question resonating through the whole book is “how space participates on disadvantaging of our bodies”, or “how diversity of our bodies translates into the form of space”? The chapter is divided into two parts; the first one discusses geography of disability and tries to show how discussions within disability studies are transferred with some delay into disability geography, where they interact with the research on space. The second part is devoted to three selected examples of space experience: the experience of people with physical impairment, the experience of people with sight impairment and the experience of „d/Deaf“ people. Each of the examples discusses two or three broader topics that have represented or might represent key research streams of the respective spatial experience.
Navrhování digitální přístupnosti měst
Navrhování digitální přístupnosti měst
(Designing urban digital accessibility)
- Author(s):Stanislav Škop, Jan Martinek, Ladislava Zbiejczuk Suchá
- Language:Czech
- Subject(s):Human Geography, Rural and urban sociology, ICT Information and Communications Technologies
- Page Range:123-155
- No. of Pages:33
- Keywords:urban digital accessibility; public digital services; connecting urban infrastructure with the services of a city;
- Summary/Abstract:The fourth chapter outlines the context and methods for designing accessible, usable, and useful urban services. Digital services are introduced as an integral part of city services, connecting urban infrastructure with the services of a city (an example of digital urban service in the context of removing barriers can be accessibility maps). At the beginning, methods that help municipalities to design better services are presented, focusing on the digital aspect and being part of so-called human-centered design or design thinking. Special attention is devoted to dual diamond method, characterized by combination of methods to be able to better determine and analyze the needs of potential users, and to create and test the developing design. Involvement of future users is of key importance not only in the preparatory phase, but also through participative design and user-oriented evaluation. As the methods are very broad, it is necessary to include representatives of various skills and multidisciplinary perspectives. The chapter also offers three criteria for evaluating good public digital services— accessibility, usability, and usefulness. Each of these concepts is discussed in more
Politiky zpřístupňování městského prostoru v České republice
Politiky zpřístupňování městského prostoru v České republice
(Policies of accessible urban space in the Czech Republic)
- Author(s):Jana Línová
- Language:Czech
- Subject(s):Human Geography, Public Administration, Rural and urban sociology
- Page Range:157-189
- No. of Pages:33
- Keywords:accessible urban space; Czech Republic; Municipality; public space;
- Summary/Abstract:The fifth chapter discusses policies and planning of accessible public space. The text works with the approaches of universal design and tactical urbanism and applies them to concrete practical examples. It demonstrates the limits of various space designs and introduces their possible complementarity with the aim to give an overview of practical examples of municipal efforts to make public space accessible. The data collected via semi-structured interviews and the analysis of conceptional and strategic municipal documents in the Czech Republic identified cities (Brno, Olomouc, Pardubice a Praha), which have already institutionalized the agenda of barrier-free space. These cities can be placed on a timescale corresponding to subsequent phases of this institutionalization, with Olomouc being at front (after 18 years of experience with accessibility policies) and Brno, which started to remove barriers systematically only in 2017, at the opposite side. Urban municipalities use diverse tools and define their goals for in strategies and conceptions that serve as guides for multiple working groups. Some of these groups have their own budgets, in which European and state support can be used. The working groups usually belong under one of three types based on their activities: the actual barrier-removing work, conceptional and methodic work and educational work. Most visible results are usually found in public transport (public transport stops, crossings, lowering sidewalk and traffic island curbs, etc.). Strategic and systematic effort in removing barriers, which has been carried out by these four cities, can undoubtedly be an inspiration for other municipalities.
Budování strategie přístupnosti města
Budování strategie přístupnosti města
(Building strategy for urban accessibility)
- Author(s):Ondřej Šerý, Robert Osman
- Language:Czech
- Subject(s):Public Administration, Social differentiation, Rural and urban sociology
- Page Range:193-234
- No. of Pages:42
- Keywords:urban accessibility; accessibility policies; senior citizens; wheelchair users; accessibility for all social groups;
- Summary/Abstract:The sixth chapter describes the making of a concrete document for a designated time, i.e., the Strategic plan for gradual removal of barriers in 2021—2030, which was created for the Brno City Advisory Board for Accessibility. The authors chose to introduce it via the perspective of a dialogic space that enables to organize the procedure composed from a variety of voices, opinions, and arguments. The heteroglossia metaphor is exemplified by the concept of “carnival” of Mikhail Mikhailovich Bakhtin, when “strangers” speaking in different “voices” are brought together. At the beginning, there were activities by several individuals mostly from NGO and academic environment, who started to integrate and institutionalize accessibility policies. For the latter, political support of established actors was necessary, and thanks to it, the above-mentioned Advisory Board was founded. Therefore, the positions of the bursar and the chair of the board are labeled “victorious voices” in our “carnival”. Subsequently, the semi-structured interviews tried to determine visions, attitudes and priorities of all involved persons, namely “the voices of Advisory board members”. Their strategic plan defined target groups, on whom the accessibility policies would focus (senior citizens, parents with strollers, wheelchair users and people with sight or hearing impairment). At the same time, the “legislative voices” needed to be respected, which were to ensure accessibility for all social groups. The principles of tactical urbanism were used to make space accessible within functional wholes and according to societal needs.
Taktické mapování bariér
Taktické mapování bariér
(Tactical mapping of barriers)
- Author(s):Tomáš Krejčík, Jakub Trojan, Robert Osman, Eva Nováková
- Language:Czech
- Subject(s):Human Geography, Environmental Geography, Rural and urban sociology
- Page Range:235-274
- No. of Pages:40
- Keywords:people with disability; barriers; tactical urbanism;
- Summary/Abstract:The seventh chapter focuses on an illustrative demonstration of the application of tactical urbanism and tactical mapping on the example of the city of Brno. Here we used six related tactics. First, in cooperation with the Advisory Board for a Barrier-Free Brno, we identify the types of spaces of priority interest. Then (also in cooperation with the Brno City Advisory Board for Accessibility) we prioritize places and institutions that are key for people with disability. In the third tactic, we identify the spatial concentrations of these priority places (in order to identify priority areas). We then identify barriers in the prioritized areas through field research and categorize these into several classes. We then subject each barrier to an assessment of how challenging it is to remove — either in terms of the nature of the barrier or through the lens of ownership/management of the barrier. In the final sixth tactic, we design comprehensive barrier-free routes connecting priority institutions and focusing on removing precisely those barriers that would provide the greatest “benefit” (i.e., most help to make the route more accessible) in the spirit of tactical urbanism. The design of the tactical mapping process is not one-size-fits-all and openly deals with dead ends. For example, it has been shown that it is not necessary to use sophisticated instruments to successfully describe the nature of barriers (but a common smart phone will suffice) or that barriers cannot be narrowed down to point objects, but we must also work with linear barriers (such as missing guide lines, warning strips, etc.). It is also important to have a broader interdisciplinary team involved in tactical mapping — in addition to social geographers and cartographers, this includes barrier specialists (so that barriers in space can be clearly identified) and public administration representatives who are in charge of accessibility. However, it should be taken into account that this is an illustrative example working in a specific city.
Tvorba sofwaru pro veřejnou správu
Tvorba sofwaru pro veřejnou správu
(Creating software for public administration)
- Author(s):Ladislava Zbiejczuk Suchá, Jan Martinek
- Language:Czech
- Subject(s):Public Administration, ICT Information and Communications Technologies
- Page Range:275-310
- No. of Pages:36
- Keywords:development of software services for public administration; Brno City Advisory Board for Accessibility;
- Summary/Abstract:The eighth chapter focuses on pitfalls in the development of software services for public administration. The contemporary standard for services is agile process, which helps to lower the risks connected to a more traditional model of project (waterfall) management of technological projects. First, the chapter shows the specifics of agile development in the context of public services, and then it introduces a unique work on the development of an information system, a website and an interface for suggestions for the Brno City Advisory Board for Accessibility. In the development of this software, multiple tensions arose—such as those stemming from the discrepancy between the strategic organizational direction and actual available capacity for such technology developments, the discrepancy between good practice and the possibilities of the contracting authority, and finally, tensions between time and sources, a limited project and the agile process development. Using examples of these tensions, the chapter illustrates its main thesis that the factors of a successful technological project do not so much depend on technology, as on the strategies compensating such tensions, on the overall project organization and the composition of its team.
Brněnský archiv příkladů dobré praxe: proč ne Metodika?
Brněnský archiv příkladů dobré praxe: proč ne Metodika?
(Brno City archive of Good Practice Examples: why not a Methods Guide?)
- Author(s):Robert Osman, Pavel Doboš, Daniel Kaplan, Ondřej Šerý, Stanislav Škop, Simona Surmařová
- Language:Czech
- Subject(s):Human Geography, Environmental Geography, Rural and urban sociology
- Page Range:313-406
- No. of Pages:94
- Keywords:accessible urban space; Brno city; barrier-free space;
- Summary/Abstract:This chapter presents Examples of good practice for the creation of accessible urban space, which have been practiced by multiple actors in Brno city under specific circumstances and which can serve as inspiration and motivation for other municipalities in their barrier-free policies and practice. While being the source for inspiration can be their principal goal, another goal is to archive the good practice. The authors start the chapter defining themselves against methods guidelines for barrier-free space; methods are introduced as a certain conceptual tool for strict, systematic and universal creation of barrier-free/accessible space, which can be too binding and less open to eventual changes. On the other hand, Examples of good practice represent a different approach, open to eventual developments, unexpected phenomena and trying to inspire for creation of accessible space everywhere and every time, in pragmatic, unprecedented and diverse ways. As has been indicated above, Methods guides for barrier-free space can be bound by three universalities, which usually prevent experimenting and creativity. Examples of good practice aim to inspire and incent creativity, and thus represent a universal “will” to be creative, unhinged and active.
