Type of Project: Model project
European Competence and Innovation and Training Center for Accessibility

The Euregio Competence Center for Accessibility e.V. (EUKOBA e.V.) is active in the subject areas of accessibility in public spaces, education and research, social services, and labor development and employment for people with disabilities. Our concept involves people with disabilities from the very beginning. We claim: Why can't a severely disabled person teach non-disabled people as a lecturer? Why shouldn't disabled people, as experts in their own right, work together with students, vocational students on the challenges of the future and the development of innovations. What we know is that no one can better assess and test the accessibility of objects, products and services than the users themselves. We have been following this path with our euregional network since 2006 and want to establish the European Competence and Innovation and Training Center for Accessibility on Vogelsang. In the field of education, we would like to make our and other expert offers accessible to people who cannot learn or can only learn to a limited extent due to their disability. The innovative content of the project idea lies in the fact that education with all its possibilities, methods and its variety of applications can also be realized for and by people with disabilities. This results above all in potentials for the qualification of disabled people. They can be optimally prepared for future tasks. The quality assurance of products is carried out on site in our in-house test center. The testing of products with regard to their accessibility has not yet been standardized in Europe. Our work is intended to contribute to this. The primary objective of our project is to offer new employment opportunities for people with disabilities, with the aim of systematically taking into account equal opportunities and equal participation in the work process.