The Donetsk Regional Museum of Local History hosted the workshop “Culture Without Borders” to develop professional approaches to organizing cultural events in the context of safe interaction with various social groups for cultural workers in the region.
The event consisted of a theoretical session and a practical workshop. Speakers for the theoretical part of the meeting included: Marina Stashyna-Neymet—Accessibility Ambassador for the All-Ukrainian Social Change Campaign “Accessibility Is When You Can,” Ihor Shramko—a lawyer with the public association of veterans and people with disabilities “Echoes of War”; and Dmytro Popov—a national accessibility consultant at UNDP in Ukraine and director of Digital Accessibility Laboratory LLC.
The focus of the meeting participants was on developing tools for exhibitions, tours, and digital content in the development of barrier-free museums; the ethics of interacting with military personnel and veterans in cultural spaces; and web accessibility from the perspective of creating an open, inclusive digital environment.
During the practical session “Seeing More: Language, Experience, and Responsibility,” workshop participants worked with alternative texts and real-life scenarios involving interactions with veterans and people with visual impairments, learning to identify communication barriers to avoid social exclusion and develop a professional language of respect.
The event will contribute to the development of practical recommendations for implementing accessibility principles, creating a best practices case study, enhancing the professional competence of its participants, and expanding inter-institutional cooperation.
The organizers express their gratitude to the speakers for their openness to dialogue and for their practical ideas in exploring one of the most important issues of our time.