The House of Bohemian Switzerland in Krásná Lípa was one of the places we mapped accessibility of not so long ago and now it was the venue for another of our workshops. This time the main topic was How to make the beauties of nature accessible to people with disabilities.
Jana Panáčková, chairwoman of the Association for the Support of Travel for the disabled, welcomed everyone and introduced them to the program.
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The first speaker, Jakub Juda, told the participants about the plan to create a trail "Kyjov Valley with all senses"for the disabled. For example, an accessible picnic table that you can get under in a wheelchair conveniently or how to install viewpoint at interesting places, which must also be adapted for wheelchair users sitting low.
The very active wheelchair user Aleš Černohous seemed to follow up with his contribution and described in quite some detail what obstacles await a person with a disability in nature parks. He did not forget to mention the drainage system across the road. The wheels of the wheelchair often get stuck in them and someone able-bodied has to be rescued. Drainage system should be repaired regularly, because if their surroundings are hollowed out, they cannot be crossed at all. Barriers are often difficulty as we. Walkers bypass them or simply go under them, but wheelchair users have a problem.
Travelers Lída and Maruška Harcubova then talked about their experiences when visiting national parks around the world. They showed several examples from South Africa, America and Australia. Most of the trails are wheelchair accessible, there are modified roads and entrances, wheelchair users are simply thought of.
In the discussion, we all agreed how important it is to share as many photos of the terrain and detailed information about accessibility as possible on the official websites of the national parks.
Ing. Jan Skalka spoke about the award-winning project "Giant Mountains without barriers", the main purpose of which was to show people with disabilities that even the harsher environment of the Czech highest mountains can be welcoming and accessible to a certain extent. The discussion focused on how the existing fairly accessible places, such as the top of Sněžka, can be further improved.
In her presentation, Mrs. Elfi Kühnel from Germany showed how she solves the accessibility of natural beauty for people with disabilities in the Zittau Mountains Nature Park.
All participants welcomed the opportunity to use the Disway Trails application, which was presented online by developer Tomáš Hluštík. In it, people can find information about suitable routes for the disabled.
