The idea is to develop an app that guides to accessible routes and allows the rental of innovative electric aids, promoting the independence of people with mobility difficulties. The goal is to restore, in a sustainable way, the freedom of movement in art cities hampered by countless architectural barriers. Thanks to the scalability of the project, environmental pollution could be reduced globally. The social impact is given by the collaboration of citizens, institutions, businesses and users.
National
Italy
Umbria/Assisi. Marche/Ancona, Macerata, Pesaro Urbino, Ascoli Piceno, Camerino, San Benedetto del Tronto, Fermo. Lazio/Roma. Campania/Ercolano
Mainly urban
It refers to other types of transformations (soft investment)
No
No
Yes
As an individual
First name: Nouha Last name: Zakariya Gender: Female Nationality: Morocco Address (country of permanent residence for individuals or address of the organisation)<br/>Street and number: Via XX Settembre, 74 Town: Torano Nuovo Postal code: 64010 Country: Italy Direct Tel:+39 329 289 1938 E-mail:nouhazakariya1@gmail.com
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Yes
New European Bauhaus or European Commission websites
The inaccessibility of cities is a crucial issue for people with mobility difficulties. This problem leads to fatigue and discomfort for them and their caregivers, sometimes forcing them to give up visiting a city.
Omniaroad is an app that guides to accessible routes and enables the rent of innovative electric aids. It is a wide-ranging project that achieves social and environmental sustainability objectives in a synergetic way: on the one hand, it improves the accessibility of cities and the inclusion of disadvantaged groups, on the other hand, it reduces air pollution.
This initiative focuses on several topics: accessible tourism, enhancing the artistic beauties of the area in an inclusive way, restoring greater autonomy and independence to people with mobility issues, and facilitating their access to culture.
To achieve these objectives, multiple stakeholders from different sectors and fields of knowledge have been involved, including: the technological-digital, institutional, political, civil, associative, social, entrepreneurial, religious, artistic-cultural, tourist and educational.
The initiatives and technological tools developed so far are generic and inappropriate compared to the particular needs of people with motor difficulties. The innovative element of Omniaroad is the development of a satellite navigation system based on artificial intelligence that indicates the optimal route taking into account architectural barriers and slopes.
The project has a high potential for replicability at national and international level because it is based on a standardizable technology and methodology. Furthermore, the bottom-up approach allows for the constant improvement of services and the widespread dissemination of the project. In fact, users can enter accessible itineraries and report any architectural barriers in order to enrich the mapping and improve the accuracy of the sat-nav.
Accessibility,, Transport, Sustainability, Social Innovation, Enhancement of the territory.
Inclusion
Transport
Sustainability
Social Innovation and Enhancement of the territory
The characteristics of Assisi make it possible to fully achieve the environmental and social sustainability objectives set by the Omniaroad project.
The historic village of Assisi is built on high ground, so the streets to reach places of cultural interest are very narrow and steep. Moreover, due to the high tourist flow, the historic centre is a LTZ (limited traffic zone), to limit traffic and urban pollution. In fact, Assisi, the homeland of Saint Francis and Saint Clare, is a privileged destination for pilgrimages. Religious tourism is different from the traditional one because it also attracts those who do not usually travel, such as people with health problems and motor difficulties. The Omniaroad app represents a solution to facilitate accessibility thanks to the various features offered. The main ones are the ad hoc satellite navigator and the rental service for electric aids. On the one hand, these functionalities facilitate social inclusion by improving the accessibility of cities and cultural places, on the other hand they reduce pollution and urban traffic thanks to route optimisation and the rental of electric aids. In addition, the current national regulation allows entry into the LTZ for people with motor disabilities even with highly polluting vehicles, but with this project, CO2 emissions are significantly reduced because cars are replaced by the rental of electric aids. Dangerous traffic jams are often generated due to the numerous pedestrians in the city, the passage of many cars with access permission to the LTZ, and the narrow and sloping streets. These three elements constitute an obstacle that is overcome thanks to the app, allowing everyone to visit the artistic beauties of the city, especially disadvantaged categories (such as people with mobility difficulties). An important result achieved so far is the inclusion of the project in the PUMS (Sustainable Urban Mobility Plan) and in the DUP (Single Programming Document).
The project mainly deals with accessibility and is aimed at people with mobility difficulties. For this reason, the app has been designed in a simple way in order to make it easy to use and trying to adapt it to all age groups. It informs about the accessibility degree of places and shows public places, businesses and toilets that can also be used by those with mobility difficulties.
The Android system was chosen as the initial development environment for the prototype given its widespread use and availability on users' devices. In this way, the application is easily available to most people. Regarding the graphical interface, a design system created by Google called 'Material Design' was chosen, with which it is possible to create high quality digital experiences based on minimalism. The screens are simple and intuitive and, moreover, they follow the guidelines dictated by Google in the field of accessibility.
Digital design was also accompanied by concrete design through the availability of a rental service for electric aids. These innovative tools make it possible to transform a manual wheelchair into an electric one with innumerable advantages for the people using it and their caregivers.
The morphological and structural characteristics, typical of historic cities and villages, often do not allow these users to visit them.The project, with a strong tourist footprint, wants to enhance the artistic and architectural beauties of the territory and make cities of art accessible to people with mobility difficulties so that they perceive a sense of freedom, contentment and independence. Finally, the interaction with the community, the possibility of requesting the help of a volunteer and booking an electric aid allow the user to independently enjoy all the experiences that a trip offers.The dynamic and constant mapping, combined with rental services of electric aids and helping people can establish a virtuous process that makes a place more accessible and inclusive
The project develops entirely around the theme of inclusion. In fact, the application's primary objective is to improve the accessibility of cities and cultural places in order to eliminate the social exclusion of some disadvantaged categories (e.g. people with mobility difficulties). The particularity of cities of art, especially in Italy, are the numerous architectural barriers. Their removal is made problematic not only by the huge economic resources required but also by the difficulty in obtaining permits from the superintendence for the building intervention to preserve artistic beauties.
Granting permissions is a long and complicated process because the protection of the artistic heritage often cannot be reconciled with the need to remove architectural barriers. In the case of Assisi, the main problem is the high slopes that make it impossible for people with motor difficulties to reach the places of art.
The project gets around the obstacle with an immediate solution. All practicable routes are mapped and the electric aid is provided to compensate for the inaccessibility of the sites.
The rental service offered improves social inclusion because it allows the person with disabilities to travel to the desired destination without necessarily having to carry their own aid. This is one of the crucial factors for those who experience this problem because the size of a wheelchair or electric propulsion system is limiting in terms of space. Finding the aid locally is a crucial incentive for accessible tourism. Therefore, the central goal of the project is to guarantee greater autonomy and independence in daily life.
Disseminating the project locally brings qualitative advantages for the city and for people. Improving the accessibility of the place increases the quality of life in general for tourists and inhabitants.
The benefits will directly affect people with mobility difficulties (the disabled, the elderly and families with pushchairs) by giving them greater autonomy in their movements. At the same time, the regular companions will be relieved of the more heaviest tasks such as manually pushing the wheelchair thanks to the use of electric propulsors and they will have the opportunity to visit a city of art without getting tired.
The positive effects for local citizens will be manifold:
- they will be able to benefit from a new accessibility service;
- increased attention of local stakeholders for these issues that directly or indirectly affect everyone;
- improvement of urban viability and reduction of traffic;
- reduction of CO2 emissions;
- guaranteed services for the disabled through constant mapping and signalling of obstacles;
- increased engagement and sense of community through collective contribution to project development;
- synergetic connections between different stakeholders with different skills and areas of interest in favour of a collective purpose;
- more efficient communication between citizens and institutions.
Citizens will be involved as volunteers in the "Help" service, which consists of intervening to support people with mobility difficulties in case they are faced with an insurmountable obstacle.
This new approach will stimulate a new way of interaction between private citizens and institutions for collaborative problem solving regardless of bureaucratic formalities. The impact generated concerns a general improvement in the quality of life according to a social innovation paradigm.
Assisi is a city with a strong tourist footprint and with a central religious value being the birthplace of St. Francis. For this reason, the project received strong interest from local religious institutions that have been facing the problem of inaccessibility of sacred places for years.The commission of the Sacred Convent considered this project the ideal solution to best accommodate the faithful with mobility problems and decided to sponsor and support the initiative. For the same reasons, the municipality of Assisi took a further step: it built the entire municipal accessibility strategic plan around the project.The result achieved so far is the unanimous decision of the Assisi municipal council to include Omniaroad(formerly called UP) in the PUMS (Urban Plan for Sustainable Mobility) and the DUP(Single Programming Document).Together with the administration, structural interventions were planned in the area to remove architectural barriers and ensure that all new buildings and renovations have accessibility as their focal point.Agreements have led to the construction of sidewalks on the same level as the road and a platform for access to the temple of Minerva, which was the secular site of the city where all socio-political and cultural life took place. Other relevant stakeholders are universities. Cooperation is underway with ERDIS, an organisation that manages study right services for students at universities and higher education institutions in the Marche region.The aim is to facilitate accessibility in university towns despite the structural difficulties to be overcome in the medium and long term.Other categories involved are local businesses and private companies will appear on the sat-nav maps accompanied by descriptive notes on their degree of accessibility.One of the most important collaborations is with the SABA company, which provides parking spaces in Italy. The company will make its spaces available for the rental service of electric aids.
The particularity of the project is the attempt to integrate different and complementary solutions to solve a complex problem. Indeed, the inaccessibility of cities is multifactorial and is often the responsibility of distinct and autonomous institutions.For this reason, the proposed idea involves several areas: technological-digital, institutional, political, civil, associative, social, entrepreneurial, religious, artistic-cultural, tourist and educational.The municipal and religious institutions, in addition to sponsoring the project and integrating it into their strategic planning, have made their expertise and professionalism available.They will collaborate in the detailed mapping of the territory, cultural sites and in the detection of slopes and architectural barriers, intervening in their elimination wherever possible.This work will facilitate the development of the satellite navigation system with a high degree of detail.Companies and businesses will be involved in order to ensure an obstacle-free experience for the target group.In the event that difficulties are encountered along the way, the 'Help' function allows the user to request the intervention of a volunteer who will help to overcome the impediment.The fusion of technological, infrastructural, socio-cultural and political tools brings the result of city accessibility closer in a synergetic way and with a significant reduction in costs.The project was born in the 'Percorsi Assisi' School of Higher Education, which was the fertile ground for boosting the initiative and networking with Italian universities. The school welcomed students with different backgrounds ranging from economics to design, from philosophy to law, and even programming. The heterogeneity of skills made it possible to have all the necessary professional skills available.This educational training was an opportunity to get in touch with some local institutions and start a virtuous circle of connections and partnerships.
The initiatives and technological tools developed so far (e.g. Google Maps, Waze, etc.) are generic and inappropriate with respect to the special needs of people with motor difficulties. The innovative element of Omniaroad is the development of a navigation system that indicates the optimal route taking into account architectural barriers and slopes. The target user will have relevant information on their physical condition in reaching the desired destination. To date, there is a lack of adequate mapping of the territory and a database that systematically and dynamically collects this data.
Omniaroad allows its users to add accessible routes validated by them and to report any obstacles. In this way, the navigation system will be constantly updated and will provide directions in real time.
An artificial intelligence system will take into account the indications, the user's profile and the structural, morphological and environmental conditions of the location in order to optimise the recommended route.
Another innovative element is the electric propulsion rental service that transforms a manual wheelchair into an electric one and allows the user to tackle the route easily and independently.
Finally, the 'Help' function allows users to request the intervention of a volunteer to help them to overcome any obstacle they encounter along the way. This feature will be developed in collaboration with local associations and citizens who will make themselves available at predetermined times slots.
The project starts in Assisi, which will be the best practice scalable nationally and internationally.The initiative is very flexible and will take into account the particularities of each territory.It was born from a real need and was developed in an academic and institutional context that contributed decisively to its realisation.Contexts of this type are the humus suitable for enhancing ideas with a high social and environmental impact.The project, as it was conceived,lends itself to multi-stakeholder cooperation, but also to large-scale individual initiative.The partners involved so far are Universities,Third Sector organisations,religious,political and socio-cultural institutions.The audience can also be extended to new stakeholders according to the specific needs of the area where action is taken. The replicability and dissemination of the project is the main objective; in fact, the app is based on highly standardisable technology.Moreover,the contribution of the user community allows the app to be constantly enriched and disseminated, mapping new cities according to a bottom-up approach.The various functionalities of Omniaroad, from a scaling perspective, could bring benefits globally. The dynamic mapping of a place through the use of the app, for instance, would make it possible to optimise routes and constantly monitor accessibility-related inconveniences by encouraging quick and efficient solutions.The rental service of the electric propulsion systems would considerably reduce the use of combustion vehicles, reducing pollution and also make life easier for those with mobility difficulties and their companions.Personal services, such as the availability of a volunteer in case of need, would also increase the safety level of the locality with benefits for visitors and citizens themselves.The integrated tourist guide service,with knowledge about accessibility, could also be repeated in all cities of art increasing accessible tourism on this front as well.
The idea was born from a real need, as Assisi is a city whose morphology makes it difficult for people with mobility difficulties to access it. The steep slopes and architectural barriers were a difficult obstacle for the project's creator. Fortunately, in recent years new electric technologies have emerged that make it possible to transform a manual wheelchair into an electric one and this has finally made travel easier. The development of the concept started from an inter-university higher education school in Assisi. In this context, thanks to a project work it was possible to devise a solution that would solve the problem locally and at the same time be the input to initiate a change on a global scale. The academic environment and the multidisciplinary approach adopted have favoured cooperation and made it possible to examine the initiative from a design, economic, IT, social and innovative point of view, making use of professionals specialised in different fields. In addition, the school's strong connection with local institutions made it possible to co-design the solution with the municipal administration and local religious organisations who provided their respective patronages to turn the idea into a real project.
A crowd-based approach will be used which takes the form of user contributions: anyone can map a route or an obstacle and share it with the community to make the app richer and updated in real time. The sat-nav will receive the information and update itself automatically.
With the Omniaroad project, the aim is to make cities more accessible, especially those places with a tourist vocation that attract millions of people every year. Cities of art, especially in Italy, present numerous problems that make it difficult to welcome those with mobility difficulties. The countless architectural barriers, steep slopes, uneven or difficult roads, obstructed and poorly maintained easy-access systems, monuments and cultural sites lacking ramps and lifts make it almost impossible to move around and access the beauties of the cities.Continuous monitoring, specific satellite navigation systems, electric propulsion systems and personal services can make the streets easier and safer to navigate. In this way, social inclusion is promoted and inequalities in mobility are eliminated. In addition, the use of electric aids and route optimisation can significantly reduce travel by combustion vehicles, reducing pollution and revolutionising accessible mobility. The cohesion of all these solutions makes it possible to achieve all the set goals:
- ensuring greater autonomy and independence for people with mobility difficulties;
- promoting access to culture for some disadvantaged categories;
- enhancing the value of villages and cities of art;
- increasing more inclusive and accessible tourism;
- reducing pollution and urban traffic;
- helping normalise disability;
- encouraging public and private infrastructure interventions for accessibility.
The project, therefore, responds to important global challenges and the goals it aims to achieve are common to those of the 2030 Agenda defined by the United Nations (UN). Specifically, the reference SDGs are the following:
- Goal 4. Quality education;
- Goal 7. Affordable and clean energy;
- Goal 9. Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure;
- Goal 10. Reduce inequality;
- Goal 11. Sustainable Cities and Communities;
- Goal 13. Climate action;
- Goal 17. Partnerships for the Goals.
Omniaroad was the winner of the award presented by the "Percorsi Assisi" inter-university higher education school as best project work. This moment was an opportunity to boost the initiative and network with leading Italian universities and,above all,to get in touch with some local institutions and start a virtuous circle of connections and relations.Right from the start, the project aroused the interest of both the “Sacro Convento”of Assisi and the Franciscan community and the Municipality, which granted their patronage. he close collaboration took the form of strategic co-design on accessibility and inclusive tourism.In fact, entire planning documents were built around the project: the PUMS(Sustainable Urban Mobility Plan) and the DUP(Single Programming Document).The aim of Omniaroad is to promote accessible and cultural tourism for some disadvantaged categories(the disabled,the obese,the elderly,parents with pushchairs)through a 'design for all' that is not limited to the services offered by the app.In fact, the project has promoted a series of infrastructural interventions for the removal of architectural barriers such as the construction of sidewalks on the same level as the road.Omniaroad represents a solution not only for the reference target but also for the institutions that have to deal with the problem of accessibility and reception of people with mobility difficulties on a daily basis.Very important partnership agreements are in progress for the growth of the project in the coming year:
-collaboration with Italian universities
-co-planning for accessible university towns together with Regional Authority Right to Education
-cooperation with the parking company SABA to create reserved zones for the rental service
-development of the app
mapping of university towns in the Marche region,the Vatican City,Herculaneum;
-agreement with major Italian municipalities
-agreement with the community of Franciscan friars with an international scaling perspective
