| PIA
National Congress South America Tour Update South America Tour Gallery |
UMI
Presentations Urban Design Forum Dec 06 Transported Forum and Workshop |
UMI
Gathers Momentum Access All Areas |
| Press Release - Transported | ||
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Transported
(Friday. August 31 and Saturday September 1, 2007), will be a forum
and workshop that will discuss the issue of collective modes of
transportation in relation to climate change and responsible urban
development.
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Ralph Green joins other keynote speakers Prof Nicholas Low, Kenneth Davidson and Mick Douglas in this forum to bring together academics and community perspectives for a dialogue that reveals the magnitude and ramifications that transport has in our environment and every day life. | |
| Program: Transported | ||
| Planning for a Healthy Built Environment - Ralph's Abstract | ||
| Press Release | |
2007 Planning Institute Australia National Congress Ralph Green, director of Visionary Design Development, will deliver an oral presentation at Sight>lines<site, the Planning Institute of Australia's 2007 National Congress. The presentation titled, "The Universal Mobility Index - a new tool to measure the accessibility of the built environment", will take place on Wednesday 2nd May 2007 at 4.35pm. More information on the PIA congress can be found at their website. |
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| Urban Design Forum No. 76: December 2006 |
| Universal Mobility Index – a world-first innovation |
An
evolving canon of literature in the social sciences, international,
human and community development disciplines relies on Composite
Indices such as the United Nations Development Program’s Human
Development Index to communicate the status and change of complex
systems. Much more than a rigorous academic exercise, the UMI has
direct practical application illuminating how barriers to mobility
discriminately constrain the autonomy of people with disabilities
(PwDs), violating their human rights and compounding their oppression
and stigmatisation. This new Index comparatively and longitudinally
quantifies access for persons of all abilities to private dwellings,
commercial buildings, public buildings and infrastructure for the
first time across the total built environment reflecting the real
life experience of denial of access. The unique methodology of the
UMI empowers People with Disabilities drawn from within the local
community by placing them at the centre of decision making on assessing
and prioritising barrier removal. They remain actively involved
in decision and are intimately involved during all phases and final
outcomes.
In Victoria the concept of the UMI has generated considerable interest. Disabled Peoples Organisations (DPOs), Local Governments, Built Environment organisations and professional groups have all been extremely supportive. VDD is endeavouring to initiate pilot projects in partnership with progressive local governments and Disability Reference Groups (or equivalent) both in Australia and internationally. Due to in-house knowledge and skills VDD, in an international context, specifically want to team up with Latin American governments and disability organisations. Implementing a world-first series of pilot studies will demonstrate how innovative policy, practice and partnership can collaborate with key stakeholders to promote a new approach to promoting accessible communities resulting in increased participation of persons of all physical abilities.
The envisaged series of pilot studies will provide the platform on which to launch an elegant tool for a ‘whole of government approach’ to mobility within the built environment and, enhance prospects for people with disabilities to strengthen community membership, participation and inclusion. Ralph Green, Director, Visionary Design Development Pty Ltd |
| Press Release | |
| 18 NOVEMBER 2006 - UNIVERSAL MOBILITY INDEX GATHERS MOMENTUM | |
Words@bld50
on 3rd August 2006 (see below) featured a presentation entitled
“access all areas” by Optometrist and Social Science
post-grad student Ralph Green, co-director of Visionary Design Development
Pty Ltd – a business member of AfP. Ralph introduced an innovative
concept he was working on that measures equity of access in the
built environment.
The thesis which develops a theoretical and methodological framework for a “Universal Mobility Index” (UMI) is now complete and generating considerable interest from government, architects, planners, Disabled Peoples Organisations and building industry stakeholders as well as internationally. The UMI is a unique tool to quantatively measure, compare and longtitudinally track equity of access provision across all parts of the built environment. Uniquely, people with disabilities are empowered by placing them at the centre of decision making on identifying, measuring and prioritising removal of barriers. The UMI also includes a policy rating component which probes and rates the inclusion of the views of people with disabilities in policy making affecting the built environment. Ralph and Mary Ann Jackson, architect, planner, accredited access consultant and fellow co-director of VDD are about to embark on a speaking tour of South America, visiting six countries in all, during January and February 2007. |
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| Measuring
Integration of Universal Design Principles in the Built Environment |
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August 3rd 2006, 7pm Designers working in the built environment need to be familiar with the Building Code of Australia regulations for access and egress to both commercial and residential buildings as well as the provisions of the disability Discrimination Act. Yet access for persons of differing physical abilities requires far greater considerations encompassing ranging from transport infrastructure to human rights agreements. Can access be quantitatively measured and if so how? What could such a measure reveal comparatively about precincts, councils states and between nations? Could longitudinal studies guide progress? Can such a measure guide designers in prioritising the needs of the young, elderly injured and handicapped as well as improving the built environment for everyone including the able bodied? Post-Graduate
Social Science Research Student Ralph Green of Visionary Design
Development presents an introduction to the theoretical and methodological
concepts for a Universal Mobility Index to measure access to the
built environment in developed and developing countries. |
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