Academic staff members of the Department of Architecture and Design– Head of the Department Olena Savchenko, Associate Professor Taras Rudenko, and Associate Professor Yuliia Shabardina– took part in a three-day training session for Ukrainian university lecturers titled “Fundamentals of Monitoring and Assessing the Level of Accessibility of Buildings and Structures.” The event was organized as part of the “State Without Barriers” awareness campaign, with the participation of the flagship project “Movement Without Barriers” of the Ministry of Restoration, Infrastructure, and Transport of Ukraine.

The training brought together nearly 30 academic staff members from various regions of Ukraine within the first cohort

The main goal of the training is to build practical skills in assessing accessibility, ensuring that accessibility functions not only on paper in regulatory documents, but also in the real urban environment, buildings, and transport infrastructure.

The training program covered three key modules:

1. Studying national legislation, the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, international experience, key DSTU (State Standards of Ukraine), and State Building Norms (DBN) regarding accessibility for population groups with reduced mobility.

2. Mastering evaluation tools, working with checklists, and utilizing the digital accessibility map “LUN Misto.” Participants also analysed in detail the specifics of inspecting various types of facilities – Administrative Service Centres (CNAPs), healthcare institutions, hotels, transport infrastructure, residential buildings, and public spaces.

3. Field visits for the actual inspection of buildings, structures, and streets in Kyiv, identifying barriers, comparing them with regulatory requirements, and compiling official monitoring reports based on the results.

The acquired knowledge, practical case studies, and monitoring tools will be integrated by the lecturers of the Department of Architecture and Design into the educational process to train accessibility specialists capable of creating accessible and inclusive environments in the communities of the Chernihiv region.

The training was implemented at the initiative of the Ministry for Communities, Territories, and Internally Displaced Persons Development of Ukraine and with the support of the Partnership for a Strong Ukraine Programme (PFRU), funded by the governments of the United Kingdom, Estonia, Canada, Norway, Finland, Switzerland, and Sweden.