Inclusive Climate Infrastructure Design recording
From Playbook to Practice: Mainstreaming Inclusive Climate Infrastructure Design
As part of New York Climate Week, the Global Disability Innovation (GDI) Hub brought together researchers, designers, disability organisations and practitioners to explore how inclusive climate infrastructure design can move from principles to practice.
The session focused on the Inclusive Climate Infrastructure Design Playbook, published by GDI Hub through the #AT2030Programme, funded by UK International Development. The Playbook provides a starting point for collaboratively designing and delivering infrastructure that is both climate-resilient and inclusive of people with diverse disabilities.
More than half of the world’s 1.3 billion people with disabilities live in towns and cities, where they can be disproportionately exposed to the impacts of climate change and climate-related disasters. At the same time, around 60% of the built environment that will exist by 2050 has yet to be constructed. This presents a critical opportunity to ensure that the cities and infrastructure being built today are prepared for a changing climate and designed to enable accessibility and equal participation.
From principles to practice
The discussion examined what inclusive climate infrastructure design looks like in practice, with a focus on housing, transport and public spaces.
The session explored how physical spaces, services and systems can be designed to anticipate, prepare for and adapt to changing climate conditions while also responding to the diverse experiences and requirements of people with disabilities.
It also considered the role of collaboration and lived experience in shaping infrastructure that can prevent, absorb, recover from and adapt to climate-related disruptions, while strengthening resilience for people with disabilities.
The session brought together a range of perspectives on the opportunities and challenges involved in mainstreaming inclusive climate infrastructure design and highlighted the importance of moving beyond principles towards practical approaches that can be applied in cities globally.
Speakers and panellists
Thank you to Ariana Karamallis, Anton Siura, United Disabled Persons of Kenya (UDPK), Bala Nagendran M, Mikaela Patrick, Shivani Gupta and Aishwarya Soni for sharing their expertise, experiences and perspectives and contributing to the conversation.
Watch the recording.
If you missed the session, you can now watch the full recording to hear the discussion and explore practical approaches to putting inclusive climate infrastructure design into practice.
Watch: From Playbook to Practice: Mainstreaming Inclusive Climate Infrastructure Design