New forms of mobility, pedestrian guidance in large spaces, public buildings : conclusions from the 5th annual workshops organized by Cerema on accessibility issues

On 15th and 16th November 2018, Metz hosted the fifth annual participatory workshops organized by the Cerema Working Group for accessibility officers from French inclusive cities (Groupe technique des Référents accessibilité des villes inclusives - GT-RAVI) coordinated by Cerema. GT-Ravi is a national thematic network, the activities of which are open to all accessibility officers working for French local and regional authorities. Its publications are available for public consultation on cerema.fr. The aim is to facilitate discussions between authorities and Cerema on as-yet unstabilised technical issues, in order to assist the nationwide implementation of public policy relating to accessibility.

At the 2018 workshops, around 30 people representing 14 local authorities and three Cerema departments used the three half-day sessions to discuss their respective practices and thinking, and then produce deliverables relating to current topics prepared and coordinated in advance. All participants had been selected on the basis of their response to a call for contributions issued by Cerema before the summer.

Three workgroups, each led by a tandem of representatives from a local authority and Cerema, worked in parallel on the following topics:

• New forms of mobility and their accessibility
• Pedestrian guidance and crossings in large spaces, aprons, shared space, etc.
• How to communicate relating to the effective accessibility of public buildings?

After the workshops, a plenary session was led by (from left to right on the picture above) :

• Brigitte Thorin, the ministerial delegate for accessibility
• Dominique Gros, mayor of Metz,
• Jean-Luc Bohl, chairman of the Métropole de Metz urban authority

This session reviewed the salient points and main lessons arising out of each of the three workshops and considered possible next steps.

The summary (attached below) covers the main points discussed during this plenary session.

The detailed reports and deliverables of each group are available on-line (in French) for more information on individual topics.