Wednesday
Room 1: 15.30 – 17.00
Cost-benefit analysis within the field of universal design
Universal design is said to be good for everyone and essential to some.
How do we weight and add impacts from areas that cannot be priced?
Participants: Jon Roger Andresen, Lars Lindberg, Ingrid Gaarder Harsheim, David Hallinan, Kirsti Svinø (moderator)
Room 5: 15.30 – 17.00
Can we do Universal design in education differently? – a new interdisciplinary Scholarship on universal design
Is it possible to create a UD scholarship with a broad scope, and what is the potential of introducing and studying UD across both student/lecturer categories as well as such different disciplines as environmental justice, tourism, AI/computer programming, health services, landscape architecture, pedagogy and fashion design?
What new findings in the field of Universal design does the scholarship lead to?
This panel will present the Bevica Scholarship Programme in Universal Design, and panel participants will include Scholarship participants and recipients. They will critically debate the potentials and the challenges of the interdisciplinary scope of the scholarship as well as talk about findings, experiences and possible impact on an international level in regard to scalability and best practice.
Participants: Tutte Murmaan, Marek Kuźmiński, Mariagiulia Sardu, Jasmien Herssens, Camilla Ryhl (Moderator)
Room 4: 15.30 – 17.00
How do we strengthen the awareness of professional and decision makers about the value of user involvement and socio-economic perspective in universal design?
Socio-economic profitability and increased user participation are central themes. How can one spread the knowledge that universal design pays off to professionals and decision-makers? How can we get better user participation in both the planning and the maintenance phase?
Participants: Nils Fearnley, Josephine Rees, Lars E. Olsson, Bineeth Kuriakose, Merja Saarela, Andrea Isaachsen Olvin, Anja Fleten Nielsen, Toril Bergerud Buene (moderator)
Thursday
Room 3: 11.00 – 13.30
Universal design and architectural quality
This panel will discuss the potential of universal design as a means to enhance architectural quality.
Using the newly published book Universal Design in Architecture by architect Dr. Camilla Ryhl as an offset, the panel will discuss interpretation and dissemination of universal design and the consequences when being understood primarily as a legislative tool opposed to the original intention. How has the concept been disseminated in Norway and Denmark and how is it being practiced by architects in the two countries. What are the barriers and potentials for the paradigm shift universal design offers to design a more inclusive, equitable architecture where quality of architectural experiences is equal to universal design?
The panel consists of two of the foremost Nordic universal design experts Tina Larsen, President of The Norwegian Association of Architects (Norway) and Camilla Ryhl, Research Director and Head of Universal Design Hub (Denmark) and is moderated by UD Researcher and practicing architect Dr. Jasmien Herssens (Belgium)
Participants: Tina Larsen, Camilla Ryhl, Jasmien Herssens (Moderator)
Room 5: 11.00 – 13.30
Should Student Coursework be Universally Designed? Universal Design Requirements may prevent Academic Cheating
Can a universal design perspective have positive side effects as a vessel for plagiarism detection?
Can accessibility checking tool help flag some cheating attempts that go undetected by the plagiarism detection tool?
Imagine if students were placed under the same strict universal design expectations as their teachers, teaching institutions, and future employers. Envisage that all student coursework submissions were automatically screened using accessibility-checking tools; coursework that adheres to the requirements would be approved for assessment while submissions with accessibility problems would need to be fixed and resubmitted before being assessed by teachers.
This panel will explore this proposal in more depth.
Participants: Morten Tollefsen, Jo Herstad, Kjetil A. Knarlag, Frode Eika Sandnes (Moderator)
Room 1: 13.30 – 15.00
Safe and inclusive homes and neighbourhoods – how can universal design be of help?
This panel will address both economic and social benefits, as well as challenges in urban and rural planning of home environments and neighbourhoods, with universal design as a crucial tool.
Participants: Bent Madsen (National Building Fund), Tina Larsen (National Association of Norwegian Architects), Anna Lawson (University of Leeds), Yngve Bråten (moderator)
Room 5: 15.30 – 17.00
Developing an interdisciplinary research field in universal design what is the potential?
The panel will discuss obstacles and possibilities of the interdisciplinary scope of the network – as well as the concept of universal design.
We will discuss which themes have shown to hold most positive tension and potential to serve as means to define and develop universal design in an inter-/multidisciplinary understanding – as well as where the resistance or obstacles have appeared. Why is such a network relevant and important to the field of universal design and what are usable outputs of this interdisciplinary process? Is there an international impact of the research network?
The network has published a first anthology, focusing on investigating the potential of universal design in different disciplinary fields. The second anthology is now being developed, and the working theme for that is ‘Universal design as a tool for change’, investigating both impact, methodology and theory.
Participants: Valeria Borsotti, Emil Ballegaard, Olivia Dahl Nielsen, Camilla Ryhl (Moderator)
Friday
Room 1: 11.00 – 13.00
Digital Inclusion through Research and Regulations
What are the opportunities and challenges surrounding current and future regulations regarding universal design?
What are the critical areas of research to achieve digital inclusion?
Participants: Susanna Laurin (Funka Foundation), Jutta Treviranus (Inclusive Design Research Centre), Irene Mbari-Kirika (inABLE.org), Åshild Vige (moderator)