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National Strategy for the Promotion of Accessibility and Inclusion of Museums, Monuments and Palaces 2021-2025
Updated : 11/02/2022
Yesterday was published the National Strategy for the Promotion of Accessibility and Inclusion of Museums, Monuments and Palaces 2021-2025 (EPAI) under the Directorate-General for Cultural Heritage and the four Regional Directorates for Culture. The document now approved is the result of joint work with the Secretariat of State for the Inclusion of Persons with Disabilities.
The Order, published in the Official Gazette and signed by the Assistant Secretary of State for Cultural Heritage, Ângela Ferreira, integrates the contributions sent by the various entities consulted since 2021, and reflects the importance of the heritage under the responsibility of the Public Administration having a structuring instrument for greater promotion of accessibility and inclusion of all people. The EPAI, presented in December 2021 and which was in public consultation until 14 January 2022, comprises 90 measures, organised around 5 strategic axes. These measures include concrete objectives and targets and aim to enhance the quality of public policies in promoting universal accessibility, thus contributing to greater social cohesion. The Assistant Secretary of State for Cultural Heritage, Ângela Ferreira, underlines that "the EPAI 2021-2025 represents a qualitative leap, responding to people with different degrees of autonomy and who therefore need different solutions. This far-reaching vision, underpinned by concrete objectives, is a paradigm shift and will decisively mark cultural heritage in the next decade.” For the Secretary of State for the Inclusion of Persons with Disabilities, Ana Sofia Antunes, "it is extremely enriching to know that we are indeed the first country – the first State in the European Union – that has a strategic document, which defines a set of political guidelines and structured policy measures, organised towards their implementation, with time targets defined in a coherent way and to know that we are indeed at the forefront in this matter." The document is available online.