iDEM interview with Councillor for Health, People with Disabilities, and the Strategy against Loneliness at Barcelona City Council

Today, we introduce Marta Villanueva Cendán, Councillor for Health, People with Disabilities, and the Strategy against Loneliness at Barcelona City Council, and also Councillor for the Sant Andreu District. She also serves as President of the Municipal Institute for People with Disabilities (IMPD), the Barcelona City Council body responsible for promoting inclusion and accessibility in all spaces, services, and activities across the city of Barcelona.

What does the Municipal Institute for People with Disabilities (IMPD) do?

The IMPD works with all areas of the City Council to ensure that Barcelona is an accessible and inclusive city. Our goal is to enable people with disabilities to live as independently as possible. To achieve this, we are committed to transforming municipal spaces and services, always in collaboration with people with disabilities themselves and with organisations in the sector, in line with the principles of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.

What team does the IMPD have to achieve these goals?

The IMPD’s work is aimed at people with a recognised disability, who represent nearly 10% of Barcelona’s population. However, it is important to emphasise that the improvements we promote do benefit everyone. An accessible city is a friendlier place for all. For example, people carrying a suitcase or pushing a pram find it much easier to get around a city where the transport system includes low-floor buses or metro stations with lifts. Similarly, we are all more comfortable when public information is clearer and easier to understand. More inclusive public services are the foundation of a fairer and more resilient community.

To drive this transformation, the IMPD has a team of more than 100 people, organised into specialised teams focused on promoting accessibility and inclusion, as well as several highly specialised teams providing services for people with disabilities. As a pioneering organisation in the field of accessibility, the IMPD places particular emphasis on research and innovation as drivers of change and on the continuous improvement of public services and spaces.

How does the IMPD work specifically in the area of participation?

The participation of people with disabilities is key. It is promoted at every level: in general participation spaces open to all citizens, in the IMPD’s decision-making bodies –such as the Institute’s Governing Board– in specific bodies addressing issues of interest to organisations in the sector, and in co-creation spaces such as the Citizen Agreement for an Accessible Barcelona. It is clear that participation spaces must be inclusive. They must be organised with accessibility measures and must consider the necessary adaptations that enable everyone to contribute. The iDEM project is specifically focused on providing solutions to facilitate effective access to, and participation in, these spaces for people with intellectual disabilities and other neurodevelopmental disorders, groups that are sometimes rendered invisible.

iDEM has worked on a guide to improve the accessibility of democratic processes. During its preparation, the IMPD identified that people with disabilities still face barriers when they wish to take part in deliberative processes. What is your assessment?

Accessible communication is a challenge for all public administrations. People with disabilities still face many barriers when trying to access certain spaces, such as those for deliberation. Communication within a participatory process can be complex. It is necessary to provide a range of adaptations to reach the diversity of city residents. For example, through materials in plain language, easy-to-read formats, and versions compatible with screen readers, that is, accessibility measures and support to ensure that everyone feels invited to take part and is able to share their views, express their needs, and voice their opinions. Information, communication, and interaction often present significant challenges in terms of comprehension, which must be addressed to ensure inclusive and diverse participation.

What actions does the IMPD carry out to remove these barriers and improve accessibility in participatory processes?

Our work has evolved over time. Today, we are particularly focused on making significant improvements in communicative and cognitive accessibility, in line with the new Catalan regulations. Physical accessibility measures are already fairly widespread, although we are constantly working to ensure they are fully implemented! Now is the time to take a step forward in access to content, which is why guidance and training are needed in areas such as typography and font size, colour contrast, document structure, audio description, subtitling, sign language interpreting, alternative texts, tactile resources, plain language, easy-to-read materials, and more.

In that regard, the IMPD has recently created the Technical Office for Universal Accessibility, with the aim of embedding the approach to accessibility at all levels of the Administration and in city events.

How do you think the iDEM Project can improve the right to participation for people with disabilities?

We want to identify the critical points, key tools, and main recommendations that can enable us to organise inclusive participatory processes in a generalised way, something that could be key to democratising access and contribution for all members of the community. As part of the project, the pilot or use case will allow us to test the tools and adaptations, to integrate the different perspectives and needs of city residents in overcoming communicative and cognitive barriers.

Thank you Marta Villanueva for taking part in the iDEM interviews!