Budování strategie přístupnosti města

The sixth chapter describes the making of a concrete document for a designated time, i.e., the Strategic plan for gradual removal of barriers in 2021–2030, which was created for the Brno City Advisory Board for Accessibility. The authors chose to introduce it via the perspective of a dialogic space that enables to organize the procedure composed from a variety of voices, opinions, and arguments. The heteroglossia metaphor is exemplified by the concept of “carnival” of Mikhail Mikhailovich Bakhtin, when “strangers” speaking in different “voices” are brought together. At the beginning, there were activities by several individuals mostly from NGO and academic environment, who started to integrate and institutionalize accessibility policies. For the latter, political support of established actors was necessary, and thanks to it, the above-mentioned Advisory Board was founded. Therefore, the positions of the bursar and the chair of the board are labeled “victorious voices” in our “carnival”. Subsequently, the semi-structured interviews tried to determine visions, attitudes and priorities of all involved persons, namely “the voices of Advisory board members”. Their strategic plan defined target groups, on whom the accessibility policies would focus (senior citizens, parents with strollers, wheelchair users and people with sight or hearing impairment). At the same time, the “legislative voices” needed to be respected, which were to ensure accessibility for all social groups. The principles of tactical urbanism were used to make space accessible within functional wholes and according to societal needs. The final document was also influenced by the “voices of users” that helped to identify spaces, which should be prioritized. Our “voices of producers” had a dominant influence over the working draft of all three parts of the document (analysis, suggestions, and implementation). What appeared to be of crucial importance, was the definition of individual goals, measures and activities leading to the realization of the vision (processional, realization and educational priorities in the document). The process of creation also allowed “expert voices”, who modelled the final form of the document in meetings and workshops. Last but not least, “voices of approval“ (namely, the city council and municipality) took part in the process that authorized the strategic plan and rounded off more than three years of its complex construction.