Ideas in ALL

Ending ‘Disabling Cities’ through Human-Centred Urban Living: A Closer Look at the ‘15th European Union (EU) Access City Awards Ceremony’

Research Stream: Social Structures

Author: Matthew McKenna, PhD Researcher at Maynooth University’s Assisting Living and Learning (ALL) Institute, Research Funded through the Science Foundation of Ireland (SFI) Centre for Research Training in Advanced Networks for Sustainable Societies (ADVANCE CRT)

Friday 29^th November 2024 witnessed the announcement of the winning contending cities for the 15^th ‘EU Access City Awards Ceremony’ (Access City Award 2025). With the launch of the EU Access City Awards in 2010 during the first year of the European Disability Strategy 2010-2020, the EU took an initial but important step towards a more accessible future for all, irrespective of age, mobility or disability. The European Commission (hereinafter referred to as the ‘Commission’) in coordination with the European Disability Forum, created the Access City Award to “reward cities that have prioritised accessibility for persons with disabilities”.

The website of the Commission states that the “Access City Award recognises and celebrates a city’s willingness, ability and efforts to become more accessible, in order to:

Guarantee equal access to fundamental rights;
Improve the quality of life of its population and ensure that everybody – regardless of age, mobility or ability – has equal access to all the resources and pleasures cities have to offer”.

The United Nations (UN) Department of Economic and Social Affairs argues that ‘persons living with disabilities are often the poorest and most vulnerable in cities today’. Indeed, while cities in the twenty-first century are experiencing rapid growth as populations shift from rural dwellings to urban areas in search of employment and greater economic prosperity, increased costs of living alongside inaccessible urban planning, transport infrastructure and architecture, render most cities inaccessible and inundated with hazards for persons with disabilities. Furthermore, cities around the world are experiencing rapid gentrification and rising costs of living, therefore increasing the socio-economic disadvantages that are often experienced by persons with disabilities as a vulnerable demographic.

Although remote working and increased employment prospects in the cyber domain have arguably aided developed countries in creating further career opportunities for persons with disabilities, such initiatives are still in their infancy and are largely confined to the most economically developed states. In the contemporary era, cities around the planet are largely representative of the concept of the ‘disabling city’. Inaccessible built environments can contribute to traditional aspects of ableist social, economic and political marginalisation which often leads to the exclusion of persons with disabilities from cultural, public and private life. As such, the rallying cry and core ethos of ‘nothing about us without us’ in civic policy is even more difficult for people with disabilities to achieve when the architectures of modern cities remain hostile, marginalizing, and hazardous to their person.

In conjunction with the challenges posed by ableist architecture in contemporary global cities, ableism often intersects with ageism in city life as urban renewal and regeneration projects can contribute to rising costs and increased gentrification. This threatens the ability of older adults to ‘age in-place’ in an environment where they may have spent their entire lives. In turn, this can result in older adults, including those with disabilities, falling below the poverty line. Rapid technological progress and the exponential growth of high-tech computational industries over the past decades has led to increasing levels of marginalisation and unfamiliarity with changes to urban dwelling among a significant proportion of older adults. On 29^th September 2015, the ‘United Nations Independent Expert on the Enjoyment of all Human Rights by Older Persons’, Rosa Kornfeld-Matte, said:

“We need to re-think our cities. Over 900 million older persons will be living in cities across the world by 2050, but our cities are not fit for this global demographic revolution”.

The Commission provides an overview of the values that underpin the Access City Award, encouraging cities to address these new age challenges, specifically by describing it as a ceremony for, “recognising cities that have worked to become more accessible for their citizens”.It is an EU initiative that:

Recognises efforts by cities to become more accessible
Promotes equal access to urban life for people with disabilities
Allows local authorities to promote and share their best practices

Additionally, commonplace modalities and trajectories of urban development are often decided by economic requirements in the form of accommodating big businesses, heavy goods traffic, tourism, rapid mobility and regular transport for millions of people; profit and business comprise the historic approach that engenders traditional urban development. The Commission provides the following definition of a ‘Smart City’:

“A smart city is a place where traditional networks and services are made more efficient with the use of digital solutions for the benefit of its inhabitants and business”.

As such, while the future of urban development and the advent of the Smart City has brought humanity to the cusp of a new epoch, it is only through inclusivity and an emphasis on a human-centred approach that cities will become fully inclusive of all, irrespective of age or ability. As UN Secretary General, António Guterres, said on World Cities Day on October 31^st 2020:

“When urban communities are engaged in policy and decision making, and empowered with financial resources, the results are more inclusive and durable. Let’s put our communities at the heart of the cities of the future”.

It is therefore imperative that the principle of ‘nothing about us without us’ underpins the future of urban planning and development alongside the creation of Smart Cities and that the UN, EU and international civil society work together to achieve significant consensus on accessible smart cities and build a mutual understanding that the future of urban environments will be wholly inclusive. People with disabilities are entitled to a leading role and an active voice in the design and development of modern, inclusive, accessible and high-tech built environments.

Modelling Group Label Implicit and Explicit Attitudes with Language Models

Research Stream: Social Technologies

Author: Manokamna Singh, PhD Researcher at Maynooth University’s Department of Psychology, Research Funded through the Science Foundation of Ireland (SFI) Centre for Research Training in Advanced Networks for Sustainable Societies (ADVANCE CRT)

Decision-making is a crucial part of human life. Human beings take decisions and make choices on a daily basis to drive their social life. The decisions made produce an impact on the family and shape the future of society. The reasoning behind the decisions can be implicit and explicit attitudes. Implicit attitudes are evaluations that occur without deliberate or unconscious thought. The primary factors which shape the implicit attitudes are past experiences, cultural norms, and social influences. Explicit attitudes are conscious evaluations that everyone can articulate and are aware of holding. This attitude is a reflection of the beliefs and ideals that people consciously support. Unconscious bias is also commonly referred to as implicit bias, as noted by Lopez (2018). The term was first coined in 1995 by Mazarin Banaji and Anthony Greenwald in their article on implicit social cognition. The two psychologists argued that social behavior was significantly affected by unconscious associations and judgments.

Celebrating the Fourth Anniversary of the ‘Ideas in ALL Blog’ in the 2024 Winter Symposium; a Commentary from the Editorial Team

Authors: Matthew McKenna, Cassandra Murphy, Neasa Boyle, Elodie Makhoul and Dr Opeyemi Kolawole

Research Stream: Symposium

The Ideas in ALL Blog celebrated its fourth anniversary at the end of November 2024, marking four momentous years since its inception. The Blog has grown markedly over this timeframe, driven by a dedicated Editorial Team whose ranks are filled by researchers from a diverse variety of fields, reflecting the interdisciplinary ethos of the ALL Institute through a collective emphasis on inclusion, human rights, equality and accessibility. Though the membership of the Editorial Team has slowly changed over time, each participant has made their own invaluable contributions to the growth of the blog and has left an indelible imprint through their work, and in the connections they fostered with dedicated contributors from within, and outside of, the ALL Institute. This helped raise the profile of the ALL Institute by emphasising to the generalist audience the importance of the core values of social inclusion and participation for all persons in a transformational and digitalising society.

Accessible Products for All: Promoting Universal Accessibility in Product Design

Research Stream: Symposium

Author: Luke McKenna, Undergraduate Product Design Student, BSc in Product Design and Innovation, Department of Design Innovation, Maynooth University

I believe there is a very common misconception of what product design really is. It is not so much ‘designing a product’, but rather it is ‘identifying a problem’ and ‘providing a solution’, generally through means of design. This discipline has been around since the birth of mankind, from the first people shaping primitive tools and designing fish traps, to forging armour and eventually making bicycles. Although design techniques and manufacturing methods are the best and most efficient they have ever been, there is a vital problem which has not yet been solved – establishing universal accessibility as a compulsory principle of modern product design.

Caring for the Mind: A Chance for the Renewed EU Institutions to Take the Elephant Out of the Room

Research Stream: Symposium

Author: Roberta Esposito, Doctoral Course in Public, Criminal and International Law, University of Pavia, Recent Visiting PhD Researcher in ALL

On November 27th, Maynooth University (MU) unveiled the “Elephant in the Room” (EIR) sculpture. This initiative highlights the university’s commitment to promoting mental health and well-being, fostering an inclusive, safe, and positive campus culture. It serves as a poignant reminder to the entire academic community and society at large that mental health challenges can affect everyone. I started my professional journey at MU years ago and recently returned to the ALL Institute as a visiting PhD researcher to better structure my research project on the right to mental health. Always feeling, even from afar, part of this warm community, the MU’s initiative has been an occasion for me to reflect on how cumbersome this Elephant truly is.

Culture, Wellbeing and the Role of the EU: Some Reflections from the DANCING Project

Research Stream: Symposium

Author: Elodie Makhoul, Research Assistant, Protecting the Right to Culture of Persons with Disabilities and Enhancing Cultural Diversity in EU Law: Exploring New Paths (DANCING)

On November 14-15, Culture Action Europe, leader of the Culture and Health platform, an initiative funded by the European Union (EU), hosted a two full-day conference to discuss the potential for culture to support and benefit the health and wellbeing of people. This initiative epitomises the importance of culture for well-being and the role that the EU can play in ‘supporting artists working at the intersection of culture, health, and social sectors across Europe’. The platform responds to the recommendations of the CultureForHealth Report (2022), which indicates, inter alia, the need to support the role of culture for well-being and health as well as to map good practices.

The Role of the New European Bauhaus in Enhancing Access to Culture for Persons With Disabilities and Supporting Their Wellbeing

Research Stream: Symposium

Author: Alessia Palladino, Research Assistant, Protecting the Right to Culture of Persons with Disabilities and Enhancing Cultural Diversity in EU Law: Exploring New Paths (DANCING)

In her Mission Letters, the President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen has entrusted the Commissioners Raffaele Fitto (Executive Vice-President for Cohesion and Reform), and Jessica Roswall (Commissioner for Environment, Water Resilience and a Competitive Circular Economy) to further develop the New European Bauhaus (NEB).

Celebrating the Fourth Anniversary of the ‘Ideas in ALL Blog’: A Note from ALL Co-Directors

Research Stream: Symposium

The year 2024 has seen several elections, new and old conflicts, and instability in many parts of the world. In the aftermath of the Covid-19 pandemic, global challenges have continued to grow. Our blog, set up on 3 December 2020, has given account of these challenges and has shown how interdisciplinary research be a powerful catalyst for change, bringing new hope and enhancing the wellbeing of people. In fact, well-being is the key word of this symposium which aims to showcase how our research, by shining a light on often neglected areas, such as mental health and social infrastructures, social services, cultural goods, and assistive technologies, addresses issues affecting our overall quality of life. In that regard, the yearly symposium (and the Ideas in All blog as a whole) situates at the cutting edge, tallying with the renewed scholarly attention to wellbeing from multiple disciplinary perspectives.

The European Accessibility Act and the EU ‘Marrakesh Package’: Will We Still Need the Marrakesh Directive and Regulation in June 2025?*

Research Stream: Social Structures

Author: Delia Ferri, Principal Investigator, Protecting the Right to Culture of Persons with Disabilities and Enhancing Cultural Diversity in EU Law: Exploring New Paths (DANCING)

The adoption of the Marrakesh Treaty to Facilitate Access to Published Works for Persons Who Are Blind, Visually Impaired, or Otherwise Print Disabled (Marrakesh Treaty) by the World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO) on 27 June 2013 has been heralded as historic and groundbreaking by scholars, policy makers and disability activists alike. In fact, the Marrakesh Treaty is the first treaty entirely based on exceptions to copyright, and the first WIPO treaty to address the rights of persons with print disabilities to access cultural material.

In a nutshell, the Marrakesh Treaty requires Parties to enact a copyright exception in their national legislation to facilitate the availability of works in accessible format copies for the benefit of blind persons, visually impaired people, persons with a perceptual or reading disability and those who are ‘otherwise unable, through physical disability, to hold or manipulate a book or to focus or move the eyes to the extent that would be normally acceptable for reading; that cannot access effectively printed material’. Enthusiasm has also surrounded the EU ratification of the Marrakesh Treaty and the ensuing adoption of the so-called ‘Marrakesh Package’, which is comprised of Directive (EU) 2017/1564 and of Regulation (EU) 2017/1563. However, approximately seven years after the adoption of the Marrakesh package, its usefulness and timeliness has been called into question. Alongside its inherent limitations, already commented upon in previous articles, the coming to effect (in June 2025) of accessibility requirements provided for in the Directive (EU) 2019/882 on the accessibility requirements for products and services, better known as European Accessibility Act (EAA), has raised doubts as to whether the Marrakesh Package has still a role to play in supporting access to printed material for persons with disabilities. This blog post briefly highlights, on foot of previous research and qualitative interviews conducted within the remit of the project DANCING, funded by the European Research Council, why the EAA and the Marrakesh Package need to be seen as complementary, and pieces of what I have elsewhere called the ‘accessibility jigsaw’.

Professor Delia Ferri smiling and wearing black

The ‘Marrakesh Package’ in a Nutshell

The Marrakesh Directive, widely commented upon by copyrights scholars, introduces a mandatory exception to the harmonised rights of authors, empowering beneficiaries (i.e. people who are blind, have a visual impairment, people that have a perceptual or reading disability and people who are otherwise unable, due to a physical disability, to hold or manipulate a book or to focus or move their eyes to the extent that would be required for reading) and authorised entities (AEs) to convert a printed work into an accessible format without prior authorisation of the copyright holder. In substance, the Marrakesh Directive allows, without prior authorization of the copyright holder, conversion of existing printed material (books, newspapers, magazines, sheet music, and related illustrations and any other kind of written works, regardless of the media in which they are made available) in accessible formats (e.g. the creation of an audiobook from a printed volume) and the reproduction of accessible format copies (making additional copies of books in Braille). The Regulation, which is complementary to the Directive, provides for a copyright exception allowing for the cross-border exchange between EU Member States and Non-EU Member States who are party to the Marrakesh Treaty of accessible format copies of certain works that are ordinarily protected by copyright.

The EAA and Accessibility of Printed Material

Without engaging in the technicalities of the EAA, which I have commented on generally in an article published in the European Law Review in 2020, for the purpose of this brief blog, it suffices to highlight that it provides for a wide obligation for publishers to address accessibility concerns ex ante and produce accessible e-books. In fact, it has been highlighted that, when it comes to ebooks ‘the EAA is very thorough’ as it ‘takes into account the whole value chain from book production to consumption’. Although the EAA was enacted in 2019 and should have been transposed by the Member States by 2022, accessibility obligations will come into effect from 28 June 2025.

The EAA and the Marrakesh Package

The imminent coming into effect of EAA accessibility obligations has prompted some publishers to suggest that, in fact, the Marrakesh Directive in particular has lost, at least partially, its relevance. The Fédération des Editeurs européens highlights that the EAA is “a game changer in terms of the commercial availability of accessible books” and the enhanced availability of commercially available accessible copies should prompt for a careful approach in terms of disability copyright exceptions which should be reflected in any revision. The Fédération des Editeurs européens suggests that AEs should be able to “focus even more on cooperation with stakeholders, to avoid duplication and conflict with the commercial exploitation” of works, and similar arguments are put forward by the French Publishers Association (SNE). However, as highlighted in the recent “Study to support the evaluation of Directive (EU) 2017/1564 and of Regulation (EU) 2017/1563, which implement into EU law the Marrakesh Treaty to Facilitate Access to Published Works for Persons Who Are Blind, Visually Impaired, or Otherwise Print Disabled”, the EAA and the Marrakesh Package diverge in their material and personal scope and do not clash or overlap. The EAA in fact will improve availability of ‘born-accessible’ works. However, it will only cover one format, that of e-books, and only apply to works published in digital formats after the cut-off date of 28 June 2025. Notably, the EAA has also a different personal scope than the Marrakesh Package. While the EAA covers people with disabilities, meaning that ebooks will need to be accessible to all people with disabilities (not just people with print disabilities). Further, given that the EAA does not apply to micro-enterprises, it substantially exempts small publishing houses from its obligations.

The qualitative research conducted in the DANCING project from the perspective of organisation of persons with disabilities further highlights that the EAA, in spite of its importance to support access of people with disabilities to printed material, neither diminishes nor hampers the relevance of the Marrakesh exception to copyright, which needs to be applied consistently. In particular, qualitative data collected through 10 semi-structured interviews with umbrella disability organisations active at the EU level – designed, deployed and conducted between June 2023 and January 2024[1] – revealed the need to fully and consistently apply the Marrakesh copyright exception and confirmed the importance of the Marrakesh Treaty and of the EU legislation transposing it. A thematic analysis ‘a la’ Braun and Clarke, unveiled that persons with disabilities do see the Marrakesh package as ‘one of the key initiatives from the EU on access to culture for persons with disabilities’ (NGO/OPD_1). One participant further added:

we have heard from certain industry that since now we have the European Accessibility Act that maybe the Marrakesh Treaty is not needed and that is entirely not true… Because I mean even if the Accessibility Act cover ebooks, which are important for access to culture obviously and education, this doesn’t mean that the Marrakesh Treaty is not needed… [by contrast it is essential] to have accessible formats specifically designed for persons with disabilities such as braille, ebooks, DAISY, you know, easy to read books etc. So we see that some industry players are using the Accessibility Act to say, hey now the Marrakesh Treaty is not needed anymore. And that is obviously not true… (NGO/OPD_1)

Another interviewee suggested that

…the [Marrakesh Package] have had a very significant impact and not even fully felt yet …. and I know we have been working a lot with national organisation[s] for blind people… around access to increasing access to alternative formats and … with […] publishers around making books accessible in alternative formats so if you need a digital version that you can listen to with your text to speech that you can get that really easily and quickly. Which is, I think, such a transformation from the past (NGO/OPD_9)

This tallies with the consideration that digital publishing is still relatively underdeveloped and uneven across the EU. Thus, regardless of the different scope of the two acts, the Marrakesh package is also perceived as essential because of existing accessibility shortcomings in the publishing.As one interviewee suggested that ‘[n]ot all the industries are on top of things when it comes to accessibility…’ (NGO/OPD_6). Interviewees also confirmed, in line with previous research, that the Marrakesh Package has stimulated access to, and enhanced availability of, printed material in accessible formats. Such impact is destined to remain even after June 2025.

*This blog post is a short dissemination output of the project entitled ‘Protecting the Right to Culture of Persons with Disabilities and Enhancing Cultural Diversity through European Union Law: Exploring New Paths – DANCING’ which commenced in September 2020 (https://ercdancing.maynoothuniversity.ie/). This project has received funding from the European Research Council (ERC) under the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme (Grant Agreement No 864182). It reflects only the author’s views and does not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or the ERC. I am grateful to Dr. Ann Leahy and Ms Eva Krolla for their support in the data collection process and in carrying out the interviews. I also wish to acknowledge with thanks the contributions of interview participants.

[1] The project encompassed a wide set of interviews. This particular dataset comes from 10 interviews with representatives of umbrella non-governmental organisations (NGOs) working on disability issues at the EU level and organisations of people with disabilities (OPDs). For the purpose of this research, OPDs were identified according to the definition proffered by the CRPD Committee in its General Comment No. 7. The CRPD Committee ‘considers that organizations of persons with disabilities should be rooted, committed to and fully respect the principles and rights recognized in the Convention. Ethical approval was obtained by the relevant Maynooth Ethics Committee.

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