Get it right from the start ‑ methods for co‑creative design

All people have the right to participate on equal terms in society, regardless of functional ability. Sweden's joint ambitions in the issue provide a clear direction for how our societies should look and function, but require turnover in practice to be achieved.

The principle of universal design is a clear example of how we can work for an equal and inclusive society. In 2015, Östersund's municipal board adopted An Östersund for All - a strategy for an inclusive society through Design for All. The strategy establishes the municipality's ambition to offer the same freedoms and rights to all residents by working with universal design as a tool. In line with the strategy, we now want to develop a new form of collaboration process, where the public and non-profit sectors work together to plan our common environments.

The project is basically implemented to contribute to the global sustainability goals formed through Agenda 2030, with a specific focus on goal 11.7 under the heading Sustainable cities and communities.

The purpose of the project is to put universal design into practice, where the users of the areas that are designed are included in the process already in the planning stage. The project is based on the previously conducted feasibility study, and will be a catalyst for combining the investment funds the municipality plans to invest in accessibility during 2020 - 2022. The aim of the project is to develop a collaborative model for the turnover of the principle of universal design in practice at municipal level by:

Establish a reference group consisting of people with disability with representation of different ages, gender, sports experience, and type of disability
Continuously conduct collaboration meetings between municipality, sport and the academy to identify contact points as well as possible synergy effects
Perform continuous evaluations from a norm-critical perspective during the project’s divided phases
Testing and further developing the process through the investment funds municipality deposed
Compile the lessons learned from the project in a report on dissemination of the best practice of collaboration methods at municipal level

Mid Sweden University has previously worked with user-centered process development and will follow the project’s development with interest in finding links between the academia and the method development processes carried out in the project. The project can offer an opening for how Mid Sweden University can work with accessible design, while giving the project an academic point of view in its design.