Required capabilities for educators to include the D4ALL (Design for all) principles within current teaching practices Erasmus Project

Project Title

Required capabilities for educators to include the D4ALL (Design for all) principles within current teaching practices

Project Key Action

This project related with these key action: Cooperation for innovation and the exchange of good practices

Project Action Type

This project related with this action type : Strategic Partnerships for higher education

Project Call Year

This project’s Call Year is 2017

Project Topics

This project is related with these Project Topics: Quality and Relevance of Higher Education in Partner Countries; Disabilities – special needs; New innovative curricula/educational methods/development of training courses

Project Summary

Educa4all Project has developed a process with the implementation of the concepts of Universal Accessibility and D4All in the Architecture and Civil Engineering curricula as a goal. This process starts with a self-evaluation tool to evaluate the starting situation of the universities (IO1), followed by designing a “training of trainers” to ensure the quality of the implementation and the adequate training of the students (IO2). Finally, the Educational Program adapts its Study Plans by integrating new learning capacities in UA&D4ALL (IO4).

The objective is clear: to ensure that future professionals in architecture and civil engineering obtain professional skills in accessibility and design for all people after their time at university. This objective responds to another major one which is that people with disabilities can enjoy accessible physical environments designed by the professionals of the future.

The intellectual products generated will serve as tools and models for those universities interested in completing the training curricula of their university studies in architecture and civil engineering in terms of skills and quality, while also recycling the training of their teachers by offering them training in the subject. In order to teach students, teachers must be trained in the subject (and unfortunately, many of them are not trained in accessibility and design for all).

These intellectual products have been developed in parallel with various awareness workshops held at the universities partners of the project. Held as a culmination of the project, during the month of July 2020, the final event of dissemination of the project together with an online awareness workshop of great impact and assistance (it was planned to be held in Madrid, but the situation of alert caused by the COVID19 forced to hold this event on line).

The dissemination of results has been important throughout the duration of the project, through social networks, the project’s web portal, international events in person or virtually, press releases, etc. The impact has been really important given the innovative nature of the project when considering accessibility not only outside the university (classes, campus, teaching materials, …) but from within the content to be taught to students which definitely also influences the training of teachers in the subject.

Therefore, the EDUCA4ALL project is and must be a reference for future proposals in order to achieve an ultimate goal that is the global accessibility of society and therefore, a fair and equal society for all people.

EU Grant (Eur)

Funding of the project from EU: 179378 Eur

Project Coordinator

FUNDACION ONCE PARA LA COOPERACIONE INCLUSION SOCIAL DE PERSONAS CONDISCAPACIDAD & Country: ES

Project Partners

• UNIVERSITY COLLEGE LONDON
• BRUNEL UNIVERSITY LONDON
• ALMA MATER STUDIORUM – UNIVERSITA DI BOLOGNA
• FUNDACION UNIVERSIDAD FRANCISCO DE VITORIA