On 14 October 2024, a consultation on "Mobility and web accessibility for people with disabilities and the elderly - linking knowledge and experience for an inclusive society" took place in the Hall of the National Council. The event was organised by the National Council of State, the Geodetic Institute of Slovenia and the National Council of Disabled People's Organisations of Slovenia (NDPO Slovenia) and aimed to present different aspects of mobility for people with disabilities and older people and the solutions they want to bring together in a single national platform called "The Story of Five Spaces".
The platform, funded by the Ministry of the Environment, Climate and Energy, will bring together data on accessibility of indoor spaces of public buildings, outdoor spaces (pavements, roads, bus and train stations) and web space. It will also include information on on-call transport (social space) and home exercise technologies (virtual space and artificial intelligence space). The platform aims to improve the quality of life of people with different disabilities and the elderly by facilitating their access to services and information.
In his opening address, the President of the National Council, Marko Lotrič, stressed the importance of accessible public transport and space for people with disabilities. He stressed the need for persons with disabilities to have access to education, participation in decision-making processes and other services available to all citizens. He also stressed that, as a long-lived society, we must be aware that we will all soon need easier access to buildings, adapted means of transport and communication routes.
Mag. Roman Rener, Adviser to the Director of the Geodetic Institute of Slovenia, explained that the Multimodal Mobility project has been checking the accessibility of the external built environment and routes to buildings since 2016. More than 100 municipalities with a total of 1,500,000 inhabitants are involved in the project. He stressed that the platform aims to connect five spaces - indoor, outdoor, online, social and virtual - to enable better mobility and accessibility for people with disabilities and the elderly.
This initiative is an important step towards a more inclusive society, where people with different disabilities will have equal access to public services, space and information, which will contribute to improving their daily lives.