Is Copenhagen for everyone? Get the answer to the free event on September 16

Based on architecture and design, you can experience poetry, debate, talks and entertainment focusing on life with disabilities on Saturday, September 16, 2023. All for both children and adults.

There will be experiences for both children and adults when Israel Square offers a community song with Egmont Højskolen and personal stories from, among others, writer Knud Romer and poet Caspar Eric.

The day will offer new perspectives on the city's interior design with Ane Cortzen and some of the country's brightest architects from Cobe and Gehl Architects in conversation with Copenhagen City Architect Camilla Van Deurs and Technology and Environment Mayor Line Barfod.

Both children and adults will have the opportunity to sense, also on their own bodies, what it means to live with disabilities, give it gas with a wheelchair basketball and experience thoughtful installations and art. Drag queen Chantal Al Arab ends the day with a good laugh as host of the folk banko.

The event is free for everyone and part of a collaboration between the Bevica Foundation and the City of Copenhagen as part of Capital of Architecture. Marianne Kofoed, Director of the Bevica Foundation, looks forward to an afternoon where Copenhageners together will have the opportunity to reflect on whether our city is really for all of us, or whether there is someone we are going to unconsciously exclude.

“I think there are many who do not really think about how urban space is actually designed and what obstacles can be when you are in a wheelchair, for example. But if you get injured or go for a walk with the stroller, it becomes more obvious how even small differences in level or steps can be a barrier to joining the community of the city. If we all get that awareness into the backbone, then we can succeed in creating urban spaces with room for more,” says Marianne Kofoed.

Mayor of Copenhagen Line Barfod supports this view.

“It is important that the municipality ensures accessibility at all levels of the city. In our buildings, on roads and sidewalks and around stations. Because everyone should be able to get around and feel safe walking around Copenhagen. At the same time, as citizens, we must help ensure accessibility, for example, we should not park our bicycles on top of guides for the blind and visually impaired, or so that bicycles block the sidewalks so that people in wheelchairs cannot get around. I hope that the event in Israel Square can help to focus on that,” she says.

The plaza opens at 10:45 a.m. and closes at 5:30 p.m.

Fact
The day is organized by the City of Copenhagen on the occasion of Copenhagen's designation as the World Architecture Capital 2023 by UNESCO — UIA. All activities are sponsored by the Bevica Foundation, which works to make a difference for people with disabilities and to create an inclusive society that is designed for everyone — regardless of ability to function.

Read more about the day and access conditions to the square here: https://arkitekturhovedstad.kk.dk/program/en-plads-for-alle-et-mere-inkluderende-koebenhavn

Read more about the Bevica Foundation here: www.bevicafonden.com

For further comments contact:

Mads Stampe, Head of Communications at the Bevica Foundation, tel.: 60 66 67 58, mail: mads@bevica.dk

Technical and Environmental Administration, Copenhagen Municipality, press department, tel.: 23 27 80 90

During the day you can experience, among other things:

At 11:15 a.m. Common song: With Egmont High School. Get a free morning croissant and sing along.

At 12:20 p.m. Poetry: Caspar Eric — the difficult balances of life. Special live edition of the podcast Tungdom, where poet Caspar Eric reads aloud from his poetry collections and recounts personal experiences.

At 1 p.m. Wheelchair Basketball: Watch, learn and try basketball in new ways. Meet Jonathan Richter and his friends from Stevnsgade LowRiders, who play wheelchair basketball — and try it for yourself.

At 1:15 p.m. Debate: How do we create an inclusive city? City architect Camilla Van Deurs discusses inclusive urban spaces with architect Helle Lis Søholt, co-founder & CEO of Gehl and architect Dan Stubbergaard founder and owner of Cobe as well as expert in universal design Camilla Ryhl and technical and environmental mayor, Line Barfod.

2:20 p.m. Talc: Knud Romer and Jonathan Richter — a life in motion. Hear poignant accounts of two lives suddenly turned upside down.

3:10 p.m. Debate: Can we make room for more in the city? Ane Cortzen moderates the debate, which includes poet Caspar Eric, dean of architecture, Jakob Brandtberg and disability researcher Emil Falster.

4:10 p.m. Folkebanko: Special edition with drag queen Chantal Al Arab. Laugh and play along when banko is combined with humor and facts about the inclusive city.

All day. A living space: Look and sense for big and small. Meet students from the Royal Academy — School of Architecture, who with interactive installations invite reflections on the meaning of design and architecture. Explore the drawing area and meet the skilled face painters for the youngest in the family.

Subject to adjustments — the program is constantly updated.