The meeting of the Steering Committee board was held on September 23, 2021 and began with the presentation of the results achieved within the project activities and it was stated that all planned trainings were realized. In addition, it was stated at the meeting that the Accessibility Guidelines will be supplemented with examples of good practice and examples of regulations, as well as the final analysis of regulations with recommendations for improving regulations and practices.
Regarding the trainings, the total number of participants in 9 educational seminars was 385, which is more than the number requested by the project task (350). An analysis of the composition of participants in each of the trainings was presented, and the general conclusion was that the public sector, especially the local level and professional (private) were dominant and equally represented, and that the NGO sector was reduced mainly to organizations dealing with the rights of persons with disabilities. The level of knowledge of the essence and technical aspects of accessibility was very high among the participants of more advanced trainings. Based on the answers obtained through the questionnaires, answering the question to what extent they are satisfied with the trainings, 85% of the participants gave a grade of 5 on a scale from 1 to 5, 13% a grade of 4, and 2% a grade of 3.
The project team presented the activities in terms of visibility and communication, and then the results of previous discussions on problems and ways to improve regulations and practices. It was stated that since the initial document of analysis of regulations, with conclusions and recommendations for their improvement, participation through written comments, and later focused discussions during advanced trainings (two-day seminars and trainings for trainers), about 70 participants from all relevant sectors actively participated.
Suggestion was given regarding the finalization of the documentation, and it was pointed out that it is necessary to present in the final report a needs analysis that would rely on the questionnaires from the mentioned surveys, and which could be used in formulating future project activities.
The final conference is planned for November 5, 2021, and the preparations so far imply that it will be held live. It was agreed to review in a timely manner whether the organization in the format of live participation is feasible, bearing in mind that the number of participants would be large (not less than 80). The final conference was conceived in a similar way as the initial one, in the first block with the participation of ministers or representatives of ministries (Ministry of Construction, Transport and Infrastructure, Ministry of Labor, Employment, Veterans and Social Affairs, Ministry of Culture and Information), Ombudsman, Commissioner for Protection of Equality. In the second block, training participants from all sectors represented in the trainings would look back at the project and give their views on what would need to be worked on further, from the perspective of the institution they represent.