A three-day training course entitled ‘Barrier-free in action: inclusion, protection, sustainability’ has come to an end in Dnipro. It brought together specialists from the social, educational and medical spheres and civil society organisations around a common goal — to implement barrier-free access not just in words, but in real everyday practices.

During three intensive days, participants worked on key components of accessibility and learned to see the environment through the eyes of people with different needs. The training combined theory with practice and focused on the real challenges faced by communities.

Participants:

• gained a deep understanding of the concept of accessibility and its components;
• learned to assess the accessibility of spaces and services in practice;
• worked on topics of inclusion, combating gender-based violence, and supporting children in vulnerable situations;
• discussed professional resilience and the prevention of emotional burnout;
• formed specific action plans to take back to their communities.

The final day was a space for reflection, summarising and mutual support. It was here that a clear feeling emerged: accessibility becomes the norm when trained, motivated and responsible professionals take it on.

The training took place within the framework of the project "Protection, Health Care and Inclusion of Vulnerable Populations in Dnipropetrovsk, Donetsk and Zaporizhzhia Regions," which is implemented with the support of OCHA Ukraine and implemented by the Luhansk Association of Organisations of Persons with Disabilities (LAOPD) in partnership with Volontariato Internazionale per lo Sviluppo (VIS).

We would like to thank all participants for their openness, concern and willingness to change the environment around them.