Accessibility is one of the guidelines that guide the development activities of the Val di Sole ApT territory. The intent is clear: to become an increasingly inclusive destination, allowing people with disabilities to enjoy their holiday without limits or deprivations . This category of guests tends to choose low season periods, therefore with a lower influx, in order to have all the attention they need from the operators. By focusing on this trend, it is possible to better satisfy the social sustainability of the territory and, at the same time, the economic sustainability of the tourism system, deseasonalizing the offer. From this premise the “Sentire la montana” project was born, thanks to which ApT Val di Sole (as lead partner) and ApT Madonna di Campiglio were awarded the provincial tender “Trentino for everyone”, promoted by the Autonomous Province of Trento .
Accessible museum
The initiative was officially inaugurated yesterday afternoon (Thursday 26 September) at the Museum of Solandra Civilization in Malé, made accessible to people with motor and visual disabilities. As illustrated by Carlo Casillo, musician, composer and sound designer of Miscele d’Aria Factory, the artistic collective that curated the installation, “here visitors have the opportunity to live an immersive and engaging experience: thanks to an innovative system audio, a sound film was in fact constructed with which a day of celebration for a peasant family from Val di Sole in the early twentieth century was reproduced. Through sound tracks positioned in the study and in the kitchen of the museum, visitors will be able to immerse themselves in a Sunday of the time, from waking up to lunch, also listening to the typical popular songs”. The sensory journey is completely accessible: at the entrance there is a station with headphones that will allow those with a visual disability to understand how the internal spaces are organized and how the speakers are positioned which reproduce the movements and sounds in the logic of surround systems , or with sources placed in different points of the environment. The entire museum can also be used in a wheelchair, thanks to ramps with which it is possible to overcome the internal steps.
Action and training
In addition to the Solandra Civilization Museum, the ApT Val di Sole has launched a series of actions throughout the Solandro territory aimed at making the project increasingly targeted and effective. Some experiences among those part of the “WoW Experience” project, both outdoor and indoor, were tested together with young people with visual impairments, to understand if these were adequately accessible (some examples: wellness experiences at the spa, multisensory barefoot paths, collection of small fruits and preparation of tasty jams) followed by a return to the operators with useful advice and adjustments to make them pleasant and interesting for everyone.
Treks were also tested together with people with visual impairments to assess whether they were truly accessible and therefore capable of being promoted as such to guests. However, these are medium-low difficulty routes, accompanied by a sheet with advice and detailed information. Practice is accompanied by theory: training seminars have been organized aimed at information offices and experience providers, delving into the topic of disability and giving them the useful tools to be able to accommodate them. Specific training was also aimed at the content area of the two ApTs, on how to create accessible content (also on social media) in view of the updating of the institution’s website (visitvaldisole.it) according to the international WCAG (Web Content Accessibilty Guidelines) criteria ) so as to allow everyone – without distinction – to freely access the contents.
Develop senses and sensitivity
The objective of “Feeling the mountain” was therefore to make some experiences in the area compatible with the special needs of blind people but also with those of their companions. In other words, to be “wow” the experience must be so for all those who live it. For the companions they are educational experiences which will also help to enhance the other senses and therefore to have a new approach, while for people with sensory disabilities they have a strong inclusive and equality value, as well as enjoyment of the territory visited and attention in comparisons with them.
Impact? Yes, but cultural
It is important to point out that “Feeling the mountain” has very little influence on the environment: the project is in fact focused on experiences that do not cause damage to the place in which they are carried out. On the contrary, they contribute to enhancing it. For Fabio Sacco, General Director of ApT Val di Sole, “the impact of the initiative, if anything, is cultural: the highly inclusive training and experiential proposals aim not only to make the territory even more accessible, but at the same time also to support the process of evolution of current social models, for which diversity is to be considered an asset and certainly not a problem”. This is what concerns social sustainability. And what about the economic one? ApT Val di Sole aims to initiate change, becoming a sort of activator who works on the design and development of the product. A way to make it as easy as possible for local operators who will then have the task of carrying it forward.
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– 2024-09-28 13:55:35
