Everything that can be made accessible
Are monumental buildings really excluded?

Our conference was the conclusion and evaluation of a year’s work. What have we been working on for the past year? What we have been working on for three years is the creation and further development of the Barrierfree Pécs database. In the past year our activities, which we called the “sticker” project, started in 2018, were supported by the citizens of Pécs themselves with their donations, through the “Élő Adás/Live Broadcast” fundraising event of the Pécs Community Foundation. We also owed them a summary and evaluation, which was an excellent opportunity for the conference held on 10. November 2021 at the House of Civil Communities in Pécs.

We grouped the presentations of the conference into two main topics: 

The importance of accessibility, target group and how accessibility is to be made. Within this we tried to focus on the possibility of accessibility of monument buildings by experts. After all, during the development of the Barrierfree Pécs database, we also ran into ahalf-way response several times, saying that “it is not possible to make it accessible here, because it is a monument, we cannot touch it”.
We felt that this was more of a “blanket” than the truth, but now at our conference it became clear with the lectures of architects/Rehabilitation Engineers Henriett Szabó and Ildikó Tamasy Kakusziné that this was not the case. People also want to visit the historic buildings, including people with disabilities, so accessibility is equally mandatory. Of course, it is necessary to take into account the possibilities of a particular building, but this does not exclude for example the Colosseum in Rome, the Sagrada Familia in Barcelona, or the many, many monument buildings in Dresden being accessible to everyone (emphasis here: EVERYONE). Moreover, accessibility must be true not only for buildings, but also for services, including the entire chain of services. 

Our other topic was the presentation of databases that really explore accessibility and evaluate them according to peer expert criteria, and cooperation between them. Our association presented the database of Barrierfree Pécs, which has developed into a professional one in 3 years. There are currently 72 locations in it, according to 12 categories, in Hungarian and English. Our goal remains to help the local population and tourists who visit here, to make their lives predictable, and to promote accessible tourism. This year, in cooperation with the Tourism Development Department of Pécs MunicipalityJV, the database can be scrolled through in the form of a handy publication, for the time being only in Hungarian, but the aim is also the English publication. 

We heard interesting lectures on the Facebook site “Gurulva a nagyvilágban” (“rolling around the world”) and Access4you, and a short text introduction about Hungary4all. The mother-daughter duo of Gurulva a nagyvilágban (Victoria Pálinkás and Beáta Tanka) cover the accessible locations during their many journeys, while Budapest’s entire transport has been explored and the country’s petrol stations have also been searched. Access4you has developed a certification system as a professional business to evaluate accessible locations. As founder and managing director Balázs Berecz said, it is possible to move up in this system, which will encourage each location to further develop in the field of accessibility. 

The target group is always very broad and far from limited to people with disabilities. Accessibility is equally important for the elderly, families with young children, temporary injured or even suitcase pullers, so there is a need for broad cooperation. This is what we “database creators” will be working on in the near future, and at the conference we decided to continue the professional consultation very soon. 

Public work is also important, as a database works effectively when it reaches as many people as possible. 

Help us with this, share the post and help you create and develop accessible databases.

You can find our Barrierfree Pécs database here in English:
https://peoplefirst.hu/en/akadalymentes-pecs/

The People First Association awaits the stakeholders for a thought-provoking, future-shaping conference. The theme of the conference is accessibility, in particular the accessibility of historic buildings, which is particularly topical in Pécs.

Our aim is to raise awareness of the essence and importance of accessibility, especially for those who are in a position to make decisions.
University students who shape the future are also very important, and we provide them useful informations.

Where? Pécs, Szent István tér 17., barrierfree conference room of the House of Civil Communities
When? 10. November 2021, 10.00-16.00

The conference is free of charge, but registration is required. Please indicate your intention to participate to the pfpecs@gmail.com email address.

Since the summer we have organized several events in our InnClusive community space, which started in July. There’s been a writer-reader meeting, a “sound bath”, a creative session… and we’re launching more and more from autumn.

We also launch our regular clubs, which aim even more to build a community and generate encounters where participants will be sensitive to social inclusion and acceptance.

Our first club is intended for parents who raise children with disabilities or difficulties. Whether they’re little or already adults. We have noticed that mothers and fathers do not really get help in dealing with what has happened, so it is often more difficult for them than for the child himself. In fact, in many cases they don’t even realize that it would be good to get help, and that’s why they don’t ask for it.
We would like to provide them with self-help meetings at the Parent Club, where they can tell us what solution they found, share good experiences, contacts, ideas, talk themselves out. Sometimes we will invite an expert who gives a new impetus to the conversations.

And in our Film club we show unconventional films that also steer our thoughts towards social inclusion. In many cases, this does not even require the topic to be specifically disability. You’re guaranteed to see movies you didn’t know. And then, with the leaders of the film clubs, we’ll talk about what we’ve seen and heard with a little popcorn.

Follow the activities on our Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/PeopleFirstHun

You can read more about the InnClusive here: https://peoplefirst.hu/en/befogado/

The People First Association was also invited to the ceremonial general meeting held on the occasion of the Day of the City Pécs. This festive day is 1. September every year in honor of the fact that Hungary first university was founded in Pécs on 1. September 1367. It is also the Day of Hungarian Higher Education.

It was an uplifting feeling to be a citizen of Pécs at the National Theatre of Pécs, listening to the mayor’s speech, which is finally nonpolitical and encourages cooperation and understanding of each other’s values. Art spots were also an experience. We were able to applaud really excellent people at the ceremony of the Pécs city awards, we warmly congratulate you all!

However, the most valuable thing for us that we could meet on the city’s celebration the other NGOs working selflessly for Pécs. We hope, after that, we civilians will become more and more important in the thinking of the town hall.

The Program of the V. Barrier-free Tourism Day has been completed. We reserve the right to make changes.

We organize the Barrier-free Tourism Day in the beutiful Orfű near Pécs  this year again. As always on the first Saturday of September, that is 04.09. Between 10.00 and 16.00, we welcome everyone to the island, the Sports Camp and the Medvehagyma House.

The main aim of the event is still to provide experiences for people with disabilities that they cannot otherwise experience in everyday life. Examples of such experiences will be dragon boating, speedboating, horse riding, motorcycling, fishing or driving a car as visually impaired.

In addition, our basic goal is to make people with disabilities and people with disabilities have fun together and get to know each other. Therefore, in our complementary programs you will be able to try out various sports, there will be music, plays, puppet performances, counselling, podium discussions, sound bowl sessions, food and drink and many interesting things.

We are trying to publish the exact program catalogue at the end of August, follow us on the Event’s Facebook page here: https://www.facebook.com/turizmus.akadalymentes

Read more about Barrier-free Tourism Day also in English here: https://akadalymentesnap.hu/

We’re on!

From 01.07.2021 our old dream starts: the “InnClusive” Community Space in Pécs. The basic purpose of this is to promote inculsion and independent living.

We’ve come up with a lot of good programs for the next 3 years, but we won’t start without you. We’re excited about your ideas and comments! We would like the programs, clubs, discussions, trainings and events to be built together on your suggestions.

Help us form how we can be as enjoyable and useful together as possible, able bodied, disabled, elderly, families with children/strollers….all of us.

So we created a questionnaire (in Hungarian) that can be filled out in 5-7 minutes: https://forms.gle/AYfXhXLRWdLu8ZHh8

Hello, this is the Gépház (Engine Room) speaking also on our site. Full steam ahead every Friday at 8:00 p.m!

We’re going to start a new thing again: from now on we’re going to share with you the weekly program guides of the (Gépház) Engine Room radio show so that as many people as possible can follow the great show of our member Róbert Rauch and two colleagues.

What’s this show?
The Engine Room is a joint IT magazine of MVGYOSZ (Hungarian Association of Visually impaired and Blind) and the Net-Media Foundation with accessibility in the crosshairs. Blind and visually impaired people dissect the possibilities offered by IT, presenting softwares and tools. And you can ask by readers letter!

It will be broadcast live on Hobby radio every Friday at 8 p.m. for about 1 hour. There’s always a guest who adds colour to an already fun, laid-back show.
Current program guides can now be found on the People First Association’s Facebook page every Thursday from now on.

Link:
www.hobbyradio.hu/play

The database of truly accessible locations in Pécs and its immediate surroundings now includes more than 60 locations, which are constantly being reviewed and added new ones.

As a result of our own IT development (thanks to Z. Borsodi and Balázs Oláh), together with the website, it became completely accessible, the appearance and search became simpler and more reasonable.

It’s mobile-friendly, which means you can see the same thing on your mobile phone as on your computer. The descriptions have been added with a map display so you can instantly search for where the object is located. You can also print the descriptions so that you can take them with you if necessary.

Also new is that you’ll find the database on a separate button on the Home page to make it even easier to find.

To know exactly what it is, we will briefly describe everything in the Barrier-free Pécs (EN) menu item. Here you will also find a Instructions and even the currently accessible accessible parking spaces in Pécs in the Disabled parking spaces submenu.

And all this remains free of charge, in Hungarian and English.
We wish you a good browsing, and nice days in Pécs!