At the Rolling Rains Report I keep up a drumbeat for the application of Universal Design in tourism (Inclusive Tourism and Inclusive Destination Development.) The Spanish 2016 Paralympic Committee is promising extraordinary levels of design integration -- a "best practices" village for all the world to see and emulate.
But we know from experience around the world - as well as documentation in Simon Darcy's groundbreaking work in Benchmark Games - that careful monitoring at every stage is essential.
If these are to be the "game changer" Paralympics that will set the benchmark for inclusion then why not make its legacy be training of a new generation in sports management?
Could the Spanish 2016 Paralympics successfully include a cadre of students, professionals, and stakeholders who intimately observe (and critique) every step of the process? Understudies? Apprentices? Service Learning?
Let's begin recruiting stakeholders from the disability community who have distinguished themselves through work on the Beijing Games, Vancouver & London, South Africa and Brazil's FIFA games, India's Commonealth Games.
Let's see to it that Spain's quest to raise the bar allocates the financial resources to document, from today going forward, what it takes to make real the vision. I for one would not mind showing off their success on my coffee table with a celebratory "Benchmark Games II." In the meantime, sign me up to lead the Game's Service Learning Corps!
From GamesBids.com:
Miguel Carballeda, President of the Spanish Paralympic Committee (CPE),
told the International Olympic Committee's (IOC) Evaluation Commission
that with Madrid
hosting the 2016 Games "we would be able to celebrate the greatest
Paralympic Games ever". He also outlined how Madrid was projecting the
Olympic and Paralympic Games as a unique 60-day event, beginning with
the day the Olympic Village opens and ending the day it closes.
According
to the presentation, the Paralympic Games project would use a
transversal concept in design and build. The installations,
accommodation and transport
have been designed for mass use and enjoyment - including spectators
and athletes, those with and without disabilities alike - to bring life
to the slogan "the Games with the Human Touch".
The "design for
all" concept has been worked up by the CPE in association with Madrid
2016 to ensure complete integration into the whole bid and alongside
the Madrid 2016 Foundation.
Source:http://www.gamesbids.com/eng/olympic_bids/madrid_2016/1216134350.html
