Milano accessibile, nessuno escluso

In March 2014, the Municipality of Milan has set up a task force for the accessibility at Expo 2015 with the goal to ensure the participation of citizens and tourists, "any excluded", in the activities planned in the exhibition area and around Milan. Promoting the right to the city, any excluded, the Municipality of Milan supports the principles of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (2006) and the EU Disability Strategy 2010-2020. These documents highlight an innovative concept of the disability, extended from a matter of strictly social policies to a matter of legal and human right: «Promote, protect and ensure the full and equal enjoyment of all human rights and fundamental freedoms by all persons with disabilities» (UN Convention, 2006). At the same time, the importance of the accessibility is confirmed as prerequisite for any action aimed at social inclusion. The principle of accessibility has as a corollary the "universal design", promoted by the Convention as «design of products, environments, programmes and services to be usable by all people, to the greatest extent possible, without the need for adaptation or specialized design». In order to ensure an accessible Milan, Departments and Sectors of the Municipality in partnership with associations of persons with disabilities, cooperatives, foundations, institutions and government agencies, including Lombardy Region, Regional Emergency Utility, Azienda Trasporti Milanesi, have worked with spirit of collaboration and cross-disciplinary, bringing together resources and expertises. The efficiency of the process has produced tangible results, which this paper will illustrate. Actions taken for the elimination of architectural and communication barriers are identified with the realization of 10 tourist and cultural itineraries in Milan, the online site EXPOFACILE and the educational and awareness actions addressed to commercial categories of hospitality. Among the qualifying elements: the reference to the principles of the Universal Design, the co-design with stakeholders, allowing to design starting from the needs identified by people with disabilities and to offer them the opportunity to control and verify the implemented projects, the promotion of the cultural dimension of disability. The task force is working to make permanent the comparison between the Municipality of Milan and the associations of people with disabilities, in order to undertake projects beyond the time limit of EXPO.