The project

The I-ACCESS project is addressing the common challenges identified in the historic centres of the two countries, by developing innovative solutions for the improvement of accessibility to cultural heritage in historic centres, while recognizing the value of cultural heritage as a catalyst of social integration and development.

The cross-border exchange of expertise and the active membership of the local governments of both cities in the partnership is informing the development of new methodologies and new models for the improvement of accessibility and appreciation of built heritage assets in the streets of historic centres, with the goal of defining Best Practices that may be applied to other comparable contexts and may in turn provide useful guidelines for private enterprise.

The complementarity of the members of the partnership allows the development of innovative solutions to be tested on the ground, to improve accessibility in a two-pronged strategy:

1) To improve physical accessibility, by developing feasible itineraries, which users with different disabilities may navigate independently, by interacting with intelligent interpretative tools along the itineraries;

2) Improvement of intellectual accessibility, through innovative technology, databases, web services and APPs to deliver spatially-correlated interpretation through various media along the itineraries. The project also envisages the creation of a public participatory platform on accessibility, to allow citizens to participate more directly in the shaping of good practices.