Culture has a specific role to play in redefining of the role of disabled people in relation to participation, the reduction of stigma and the portrayal of realistic and complex narratives (rather than purely simplistic ‘positive’ ones). We believe that disabled people should be fully involved in all aspects of the creative sector and cultural processes, as artists, designers, developers and not purely as participants. Participation in cultural activity has proved beneficial for community building and social cohesion – from art to sport, it is at the heart of how change happens.

An old man in a wheelchair is taking a photo of an art sculpture of a man wearing shorts and braces on a space hopper.

Culture and Participation highlights

A group of wheelchair athletes playing basketball. Photo credit: NM Foundation Zimbabwe
Assistive Technology (AT) for what?

Amartya Sen’s seminal Tanner lecture: Equality of What? began a contestation on social justice and human wellbeing that saw a new human development paradigm emerge—the capability approach (CA)—which has been influential ever since. Following interviews with leading global assistive technology (AT) stakeholders, and users, this paper, from co-directors Catherine Holloway and Vicki Austin, takes inspiration from Sen’s core question and posits, AT for what? arguing that AT should be understood as a mechanism to achieve the things that AT users’ value.

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A group of people stand together on a red carpet, dressed smartly in dresses and tuxes ready for the awards ceremony
WeThe15

WeThe15 named International Campaign of the Year at 2022 Sport Industry Awards. Global Disability Innovation Hub is a founding partner of WeThe15 - which brings together the biggest coalition ever of international organisations from the worlds of sport, human rights, policy, business, arts, and entertainment, including representative organisations of persons with disabilities. WeThe15, which aims to be the biggest ever human rights movement to represent the world’s 1.2 billion persons with disabilities, was named the International Campaign of the Year at the 2022 Sport Industry Awards in May.

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London 2012 opening ceremony
London 2012 Disability Inclusion Model

The London 2012 Paralympic Games was called “the most successful Paralympic Games ever” (by the then-President of the IPC), and it saw more athletes from more countries than ever before compete and become global heroes for the first time in a redeveloped part of East London which also hosted “the most accessible Olympic Games ever” that summer. However, the model used to design and deliver disability inclusion for London 2012, and its legacy, has never been explicitly written up. This paper presents new primary evidence from first-hand research from those who were involved; retrospectively framing the London 2012 Disability Inclusion Model such that it might be usable and developed for other global disability challenges.

Read more about the Disability Inclusion Model