Promoting the rights of people with disabilities
Nominations are open for the Zero Project, that researches the most outstanding innovations worldwide in the area of disabilities.
di Staff
The Zero Project, initiated by the Essl Foundation and organized in partnership with the World Future Council, advocates the rights of persons with disabilities, as stated in the UN Convention adopted on 13 December 2006. Its mission is to work for a world with zero barriers.
The main activity of the project is to research the most outstanding Innovative Practices and Innovative Policies worldwide by engaging leading experts in the nomination and evaluation process.
The current results of the Zero Project, including the selected practices and policies, will be presented in the annually published Zero Project Report, on its website and at the Zero Project Conference.
Since 2012, the Essl Foundation and its partner World Future Council, supported by Bank of Austria, have been convening international conferences in Vienna, Austria, with the aim to raise awareness of innovative solutions from around the world that implement the rights of people with disabilities and improve their living conditions.
The theme of next year’s conference, which is going to be held in February 2014, will be Accessibility as a human right: Innovative Policies and Innovative Practices.
The research for the event is based on nominations of both Innovative Practices and Innovative Policies that address the issue of accessibility and people with disabilities.
In accordance with Article 9 of the UN Convention, the approach to accessibility will not only look at the “built environment”, but also at other areas including: access to information and communication, transport, products and services. Special attention will be given to the accessibility of financial services.
Nominations for the Zero Project are open. When nominating, it is necessary to decide if the project or initiative in question is either an “Innovative Policy” ” (laws, regulations, standards… that have substantially and measurably improved accessibility) or an “Innovative Practice” ((initiatives by, for example , NGOs, social entrepreneurs or businesses that have clearly improved accessibility).
Deadline to submit nomination is the 29th of July 2013.
