2021 Access City Award – the winners!

The Access City Award was launched in 2010 to raise awareness of disability and promote accessibility initiatives in European cities with more than 50,000 inhabitants. The prize is about ensuring equal access to city life for people with disabilities. The Award goes to the city that has demonstrably improved accessibility in fundamental aspects of city living and has concrete plans for further improvements.

Out of 50 applications, the city of Jönköping in the South of Sweden was announced the winner at the online ceremony on 1 December. Jönköping has made continuous improvements in both the new and old areas of the city, in collaboration with disability organisations. The city also created a local ‘Access City Award', for businesses or organisations that worked with their customers to improve accessibility.

The city of Bremerhaven in Germany and the city of Gdynia in Poland are the second and third place winners of the 2021 Access City Award.

The city of Poznań in Poland received a special mention for accessibility of public services in times of the pandemic. Two further special mentions were awarded to Komotini in Greece for “accessibility as an opportunity for the whole city” and Florence in Italy for the “built environment”.

The Access City Award is presented at the yearly European Day of Persons with Disabilities conference.

 

For more information
United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities