The kick-off meeting of the project “ACCEASY – Easy to Read Easy to Access,” hosted by Aspanias Burgos as project coordinator, was held on 14 and 15 November 2019 in Burgos, Spain. Kick-off meeting brought together six partner organisations from Spain, Italy, Slovakia and Cyprus that started the development of the methodology and the necessary tools to promote an inclusive and accessible European heritage for people with cognitive difficulties.

Apart of working on initial tasks of the project, the meeting was used also for several visits to observe the work with people with cognitive difficulties. Among the organisations we had a chance to visit were Autismo Burgos taking care of people with autism, Fundación CISA, a dedicated employment centre of Aspanias Group and Aspanias residence for old people with intellectual disability. Finally, we had a chance to witness a validation session with young people with cognitive difficulties in Puentesaúco, special education center of Aspanias.

The goal of ACCEASY project is to promote an inclusive and accessible European heritage for people with intellectual disabilities and/or cognitive difficulties.

Lack of accessibility of heritage from a cognitive point of view is due to the use of a complex language, to the lack of consideration of the needs of people with intellectual disabilities and/or cognitive difficulties and to a lack of vindication of the right of these people to fully participate in social life.

The project is aspiring to raise awareness of the importance of European cultural heritage, open the cultural heritage to people with intellectual disabilities and use cultural heritage as an instrument to promote social inclusion.

In the frame of the project we plan to:

• promote the use of accessible communication systems.
• sensitize and raise awareness.
• claim cognitive accessibility as a right.

The project is funded and supported by the European Commission, under the Erasmus+ framework.

For more information about the ACCEASY project, please, visit https://www.acceasy.eu/.

Easy to Read Easy to Access / ACCEASY / 2019-1-ES01-KA202-064279 The content of this document does not reflect the official opinion of the European Union. Responsibility for the information and views expressed in this document lies entirely with the author(s). Reproduction is authorised provided the source is acknowledged.