Accessible Urban Trail for All

Imagine walking to the shopping center or the doctor near your house without being able to see or having to use a wheel chair to get there. Imagine having to communicate with your surrounding when you cannot hear them or when you cannot understand the signs, the language due to cultural differences, language barriers or cognitive disability and more. Have you ever stopped to think what obstacles lay on the path or may be above your head? Daily obstacles that seem harmless and insignificant can become true barriers preventing more than 20% of the global population, those with disabilities, the elderly etc. from living their daily lives with dignity, as equals, and with maximum independence. The Accessibility for All Trail, led by Access Israel is a truly unique and exciting tool that will be integrated in to the Habitat III Conference by placing an urban trail requiring all participants to choose a disability to enter this Trail with. Once a disability is chosen, the participant gets to experience how it feel to move in the urban surrounding with a disability. The participant is introduced to a person with that disability that escorts him and guides him through an "urban obstacle course". During the walk the guide shares his story including challenges he faces in everyday activities and victories he encountered along the way. The guide also provides an insight in to how it feels to live your life with this disability and how one can help and break the barriers needed to promote inclusion of people with this disability in to society. The Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs have partnered with Access Israel along with help from the Zero Project – Essl Foundation to enable representative from all over the world to get a glimpse at this important opportunity and understanding what it really means to – Leave No-one Behind.