Epsilon Archive for Student Projects

Abstract

The title of this thesis is "Accessible Landscape - boardwalks in nature areas".

The main purpose of this thesis is to show how you can increase the accessibility for disabled people by constructing boardwalks in nature areas.

The platform for the thesis is a study of litterature on boardwalks, accessibility and disabilities. After defining these terms I made three excursions to three different locations in the south of Sweden. During the excursions I evaluated the boardwalks situated in each of the areas through preferences such as the construction of the boardwalk, its design and the accessibility.
After the excursions I interviewed managers of the areas I visited, and people working with disability questions in the municipalities where the excursions took place.

To know how to make a boardwalk accessible you need to have knowledge about certain concepts, rules and recommendations.
My thesis deals with aspects such as:
*Accessibility
*Disability
*Rules and recommendations when building boardwalks
*Real life - evaluation from the excursions and interviews with the
managers

The result shows that accessibility is a hot topic in Sweden and a lot
of improvement is being done with fi nancial support from the European
Union. However the cooperation, both within Sweden and
between Sweden and other countries, need to increase to extend
the exchange of knowledge concerning the use of materials and
types of construction.