Stakeholder consultation on cultural accessibility within the framework of the Art4All project
Access to culture is a fundamental human right according to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights: cultural rights are indispensable for the dignity and the free development of the personality, and “everyone has the right freely to participate in the cultural life of the community, [and] to enjoy the arts”.
The Urban Research Institute (URI) organised the stakeholder consultation “Dialogue for Accessible Culture” as part of the Art4All project on 23 June 2026 at Europe House in Tirana.
Cultural institutions, representatives of the Ministry of Tourism, Culture and Sports and the Ministry of Health and Social Protection, organisations of persons with disabilities, the People’s Advocate (Ombudsman), the Commissioner for Protection from Discrimination, and many other key stakeholders came together to discuss the barriers that continue to limit participation in culture and the solutions that can make it truly inclusive.
The meeting was opened by Ms Zana Vokopola, Executive Director of URI, and Ms Benida Kraja, Director of the Directorate of Cultural Heritage Policies at the Ministry of Tourism, Culture and Sports. Marinela Spahiu, Project Manager at URI, presented the purpose of the consultation and the Art4All project. The URI experts then led an in-depth discussion on physical, sensory, cognitive, communication, and digital barriers, as well as on practical recommendations for more inclusive participation in culture.
During the discussion, it was emphasised once again that, while attention often focuses on physical accessibility, we must not forget communication, sensory, cognitive, and digital accessibility. Only by addressing all these dimensions can we speak of culture that is truly accessible to all.
This consultation is part of the accessibility gap analysis being carried out by URI, which combines questionnaires, interviews, focus groups, field visits, and digital accessibility audits, in order to ground the findings in the real experience of persons with disabilities and the organizations that represent them.
About the project
Art4All – Improving Cultural Accessibility Across Borders brings together partners from Italy, Albania, and Montenegro and aims to address the barriers that hinder access to culture, with particular attention to the participation of persons with disabilities in cultural life. The project is implemented by the Pino Pascali Foundation (Lead Partner, Italy), Factory Transadriatic – Social Enterprise (Italy), the Museum of Contemporary Art Termoli (Italy), the Urban Research Institute – URI (Albania), and the Homer Cultural Centre (Montenegro).
Art4All is implemented under the Interreg IPA South Adriatic Programme 2021–2027, co-financed by the European Union through the Instrument for Pre-Accession Assistance (IPA III).
