It is an established political aim in Norway that all children should be able to attend their local school. This means that priority must be assigned to providing universal design in all primary and lower secondary schools.
In a recent study, carried out by SINTEF and funded by the Norwegian Directorate for Children, Youth and Family Affairs (Bufdir), researchers have been looking into how the municipalities assess the levels of universal design provided in their schools.
“We identified those who are involved, whether the assessments resulted in upgrades, and which user groups were addressed by any resultant measures”, says Senior Research Scientist Karine Denizou at SINTEF.
Most respondents were small municipalities
The survey was carried out using an electronic questionnaire that was sent out to a total of 356 municipalities in Norway. A total of 116 municipalities responded, and 91 completed the questionnaire. The majority of the respondents were small municipalities.
One in four of these municipalities participate in the nationwide municipal ‘Network for Universal Design’, and these would thus be expected to exhibit higher levels of awareness of universal design than the others.
“Our survey sample contained municipalities of different sizes and exhibited good geographical distribution”, says Denizou. “All of the Norwegian counties were represented. Even though the response percentage was low, the material was sufficient to support an analysis”, she says.
In addition, interviews were carried out in four municipalities of different sizes.
Only when the need is urgent
Only one third of the municipalities stated that they conduct assessments of levels of universal design in their schools.
“Some make assessments only when a pupil with special needs starts at a given school”, says Denizou. “Assessments of universal design are regarded as unnecessary in new schools that have been built in compliance with requirements governing universal design in public access buildings”, she says.
Demanding new regulations
“We have no choice but to repeat the submissions we have made on a regular basis ever since the Disability Discrimination Act came into force in 2009”, says Tove Linnea Brandvik, who is General-Secretary of the Norwegian Association for the Disabled.
The Act stipulates that all buildings intended for public access must offer universal design.
“In order to achieve this, statutory regulations must be drawn up that impose deadlines as to when given types of buildings must comply with the stipulated requirements”, says Brandvik. “Moreover, there must be unambiguous requirements describing how this should be achieved, as well as a set of relevant criteria”, she says.
Brandvik believes that all children’s entitlement to attend their local school cannot be met in practice until school buildings meet the requirement for universal design.
“Now that we see the municipalities failing both to document or implement existing requirements, the Government must step in to ensure that the regulations needed by the municipalities to carry out their obligations are rapidly put in place”, says Brandvik.
She believes that inconsistent status assessment practices and reporting systems, combined with variable basic criteria, only serve to strengthen the need for a set of regulations.
Brandvik goes on to emphasise that involvement of the statutory municipal committees for the disabled is considered essential as part of the work that has to be carried out.
No compatible digital tools
The SINTEF survey has revealed that many municipalities believe that they lack an effective assessment tool. This applies both to fieldwork and in connection with post-assessment analysis and reporting. Much of this is because the tools are incompatible with the existing digital management, operations and maintenance (FDV) system used by Norwegian municipalities.
“This serves to highlight an obstacle both to future monitoring and action to implement universal design. It is a problem that we should be addressing”, says Denizou.
Getting about is given most weight
Not surprisingly, municipal assessments give most weight to the needs of users with mobility issues. More than 90 percent of municipalities stated that their assessments focus primarily on wheelchair users and others with reduced mobility. Persons with a visual impairment are addressed by assessments made by 80 percent of the municipal respondents.
The municipalities surveyed consider that it will be possible, once all identified shortcomings have been remedied, to achieve non-discriminatory use of their schools by wheelchair users (67%), other persons with reduced mobility (60%), persons with a visual impairment (54%) and persons with a hearing impairment (44%).
Only 19 percent of the respondent municipalities have made assessments of their outdoor school spaces using the app supplied by the Norwegian Mapping Authority (Kartverket).
Minorities get squeezed out
Non-Norwegian-speaking children, and those with behavioural issues on the autism spectrum, are not seen as being able to achieve non-discriminatory utilisation of their schools. Only 18 percent of the municipalities stated that the interests of these groups are given consideration.
“This correlates well with the fact that the needs of these children are inadequately recognised and recorded, and explains why these needs are not incorporated in existing assessment criteria”, says Denizou.
Nor are these groups addressed in the Norwegian statutory building regulations (TEK17) in the same way as, for example, wheelchair users or persons with visual impairments.
Tight budgets stand in the way
Almost eight out of ten respondent municipalities stated that tight budgets are preventing them from taking action when it comes to universal design. However, they also mention a general lack of both expertise and commitment as contributing factors. As many as 79 percent cite tight budgets as an obstacle to the implementation of relevant measures.
An additional reason for the postponement of measures may be uncertainty regarding the selection of effective solutions.
“Nevertheless, municipalities implement a number of measures to promote universal design in connection with maintenance, such as the installation of sun screens, automatic door openers and alternatives to staircases”, says Denizou.
Gaps in expertise create chaos
Both the responses to the questionnaire and the interviews revealed that within the respondent municipalities, expertise in universal design varies greatly and the issue is organised in different ways. Only very few municipalities operate with a resource team or an individual dedicated to universal design.
“We found that resource persons dedicated to universal design have an important role in terms of disseminating information within a municipality, but that it is equally important that they can obtain support from a group of specialists”, says Denizou. Such groups offer the space necessary for discussion, and are a crucial precondition for universal design”, she says.
Denizou argues that it should be a stated objective that more municipalities raise the issue among different sectors.
User experience should be better exploited
There is little to indicate that the municipalities operate with systems that adequately capture and categorise any input provided by users.
“Users’ experiences of their schools and outdoor spaces offer useful information, and we should be systematically seeking user input”, says Denizou. “This input should be brought to the attention of the departments responsible for operations and maintenance, as well as to higher authorities within the municipalities”, she says.
Denizou argues that, in this way, it will be possible to ensure that necessary measures can be incorporated into municipal budgets.
Researchers’ recommendations
Based on the results of the SINTEF study, the researchers recommend the following activities. These will help to consolidate existing assessment practices in the field of universal design and contribute towards ensuring that measures are carried out.
- Evaluate and record the process that has resulted in exemplary upgrades related to universal design
- Collect examples of specific proposals for solutions to everyday problems
- Develop a set of assessment criteria that extend beyond the scope of the TEK17 regulations, including criteria that take into account children with diverse cognitive difficulties
- Establish procedures for the selection of assessment advisers, such as a template containing requirement specifications that can be requested by the municipalities
- Review existing assessment process guidelines and expand these to include items such as methods for gathering user experiences
The SINTEF report concludes that current objectives relating to inclusivity and participation, as well as pupils’ universal entitlement to attend their local schools, must be followed up. This can be achieved by introducing requirements or financial incentives to encourage municipalities to prioritise universal design in existing schools.
Reference:
Karine Denizou, Aileen Yang and Marianne Skaar; Universell utforming i grunnskolen. Kartlegging og praksis i norske kommuner (Universal design in schools. Assessment and practice in Norwegian municipalities. In Norwegian). SINTEF Akademisk forlag, 2024.
