Inclusion Talks: Sustainability Doesn’t Happen By Itself

Listen to the podcast here:

The conversation highlights that sustainability only becomes real when it is also inclusive. And if sustainability is to live up to the Leave No One Behind principle of the Sustainable Development Goals, people with disabilities must be considered from the outset in climate action, architecture, infrastructure and emergency planning. As Camilla Ryhl says: “When we are facing the burning platform of the climate crisis, we know that people with disabilities are being left behind in every single aspect of the sustainable journey.”

Camilla Ryhl explains universal design as a value-based approach rooted in the understanding that all people have different and changing functional abilities throughout life: “We will all live with different and changing abilities throughout our lifetime. We will all experience disability.”

Universal design is therefore not about special solutions for a small group, but about creating societies, spaces, services and systems that more people can use in equitable ways.

Daura van Vuuren describes how people with disabilities are often overlooked in the climate debate, even though they may be particularly vulnerable during extreme weather, evacuations, power outages and other crises: “To take the universal design lens and apply it to climate change can really open up an entirely new conversation”.

A key message is that inclusion cannot be added at the end. It must be part of the entire process — from idea and planning to implementation, use and emergency preparedness. Daura stresses the importance of including users themselves in the development of emergency plans and disaster responses: “Every single step needs to be inclusive. Because if one step in it is not inclusive, then the whole journey is not happening.”

The podcast series Inclusion Talks – A Universal Design Perspective is a collaboration with the Copenhagen Architecture Forum.

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In the podcast, you will meet:

Daura van Vuuren: Former winner of the Bevica Scholarship Programme. In her work, Daura connects Denmark’s political commitments to global climate action plans with the country’s obligations under the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, which Denmark ratified in 2009.

Camilla Ryhl: Research Director at the Bevica Foundation and academic lead of the Universal Design Hub. She holds a master’s degree and a PhD in architecture from the Royal Danish Academy in Copenhagen and specialises in universal design.

Moussa Mchangama: Moussa Mchangama is a leading strategic facilitator and change agent in Nordic cultural conversations on diversity, equity and inclusion.