Extented deadline! Call for contributions. Theme: New technologies, culture and accessibility

Open call for preliminary workshops, round table discussions, case presentations and introductory visits in connection with The Forum of Equality in Culture! Submit your proposal by 29 February 2016. We will notify the selected applicants by 18 March 2016. The proposals will be selected by a jury. Jury members are experts of accessibility, culture and technology. After the selection we will send more detailed instructions to the participants. The preliminary programme will be publicized in May 2016.

The Forum of Equality in Culture: Accessibility 3.0 will be held on 3 November 2016 at Media Centre Lume in Helsinki. The programme also includes preliminary workshops held on 2 November 2016 and introductory visits to various organizations on 4 November 2016. The themes of the forum are new creative technologies in the field of arts and culture and their potentials to enhance accessibility and equality. The forum is meant for stakeholders in the field of arts and culture, experts in technology and accessibility, users of culture and everyone interested.

Please note that we cannot pay fees and are unfortunately unable to compensate for travel costs.

Instructions

The forum is a three-day event. The programme of the forum:

• Wednesday 2 November 2016: preliminary workshops at different venues
• Thu 3 November 2016: Seminar day at Media Centre Lume, case presentations and round table discussions
• Fri 4 November 2016: introductory visits to different organizations

Proposals can be submitted by organizations, working groups and private persons.

Preliminary workshops 2 November 2016

We are seeking for suggestions for preliminary workshops. Propose a topic and organize a workshop on your premises on 2 November. The outcomes of the workshops will be presented briefly at the forum on 3 November.

The workshop can be centred, for example, on collaboratively solving a certain problem relating to accessibility, teaching the participants some new skill, developing an idea or existing service or product, or creating some new idea.

Send us your proposal for preliminary workshops by 29 February through webform (Google)

Seminar day 3 November 2016 

We are seeking for topics for round table discussions and moderators for the tables as well as case presentations as part of the programme of the seminar day of the forum on 3 November.

Round table discussions

The duration of a round table discussion will be 45 min – 1.5 hrs (to be specified later).

We are hoping for round table discussions on, for example, the following topics and themes:

• Culture/art, accessibility and technologies/digitalization
• How can technologies make art and culture more accessible?
• How do we ensure that technologies are accessible to all people?
• How can a challenge relating to accessibility be solved?
• What kinds of problems/challenges can or cannot be solved with technologies?
• What kinds of challenges do technologies involve? Who are excluded as technology evolves?
• How can operators in the field of culture choose from among all the possibilities the solutions that are the most effective and sustainable for their activities? Technology opens great possibilities but does it, at the same time, allow for sustainable development?
• What kind of technology for what? How to find the way in the jungle of possibilities? What types of services/equipment are needed, for which part of cultural activities?
• How do different applications and solutions work together, how can one make them accessible?
• For what kinds of applications and services there is a need, and are there shortcomings in the current situation and supply that call for immediate reaction?
• Do the possibilities offered by technology change people’s relationship to art and cultural services? How? 

Send us your proposals for round table discussions by 29 February through webform (Google)

Case presentations

How have accessibility, culture and technology already been linked together? How were the solutions realized? What were the successes, what went wrong? What kinds of projects dealing with accessibility, technologies, digitalization and culture are currently in the works or have recently been carried out?

The maximum duration of a case presentation is around 10 minutes (to be specified later). The case presentations will be part of the section of the programme that will be interpreted at least to Finnish Sign Language and also has speech-to-text interpretation.

Send us your proposals for case presentations by 29 February through webform (Google)

Introductory visits 4 November 2016

Different organizations will also have a chance to present their work in the context of accessibility through introductory visits on 4 November.

All organizations are offered the opportunity to organize an introductory visit to introduce what kind of work they have done towards accessibility. The participating organizations may organize, for example, 1-2 introductory events or tours on their premises on 4 November, at 9 am – 11 am and/or 1 pm – 3 pm. There will be no advance registration for the visits.

Possible topics for a visit:

• what we have done to achieve accessibility, successes and challenges, our own experiences
• tour of premises, recapping the accessibility solutions applied in the facilities and operations

Send us your proposal for introductory visits by 29 February through webform (Google)

Organizers

The Forum of Equality in Culture is organized by the Culture for All Service in collaboration with Aalto University (Media Factory), Helsingin Seniorisäätiö, Heureka - The Finnish Science Centre, Näkövammaisten kulttuuripalvelu (Cultural Service for the Visually Impaired), SAMS (Samarbetsförbundet kring funktionshinder rf), Tanssin talo ry (The Dance House Helsinki) and The Finnish Film Foundation.

Further information

Outi Salonlahti
Planner
Email: outi.salonlahti(a)cultureforall.fi
tel. + 358 40 963 9908
Culture for All Service / Yhdenvertaisen kulttuurin puolesta ry
cultureforall.fi/theof_equality_in_culture