On 26th April 2023, the European Commission-funded project InAbled Cities held its final conference "Developing Inclusive Urban Environments for Physical Activity of People with Disabilities and the Elderly" at the European Parliament. The event was hosted by the Member of the European Parliament (MEP) Rosa Estaràs Ferragut. The whole Executive Committee of the Europe Region of World Physiotherapy, coordinating organisation of the project, was present at the event.

The conference, moderated by the General Secretary, Aitor Carpio García, started with the intervention of Eléonore Le Roch, Project Manager of the Europe Region of World Physiotherapy and main coordinator of InAbled Cities. She presented a retrospective of the project and did an overview of the different deliverables, including the InAbled Cities mobile App which includes tailored exercises and recommendations for physical activity among the target groups according to their physical condition.

"The InAbled Cities App allows the engagement and adherence of people with disabilities and the elderly in the practice of physical activity by providing users different sort of recommendations and exercises designed by physiotherapists." Eléonore Le Roch, Project Manager

Further on, Marzia Bettocchi from the Municipality of Bologna, and Irene Rodríguez Andonaegui and Joao Miguel Mota de Sousa from the University of Physiotherapy of ONCE (partners of InAbled Cities), reported about the outcomes from the interventions with the target groups in the pilot territories: Bologna (Italy) and Sevilla La Nueva (Spain), and provided recommendations from the lessons learnt.

The conference continued with a discussion on how to develop inclusive urban environments for physical activity of people with disabilities and the elderly. The round table was composed by Esther-Mary D'Arcy, Chair of the Europe Region of World Physiotherapy, Javier Güemes Pedraz, Director of International Relations of ONCE Social Group (one of the biggest disability associations in Europe)  and Anna Lisa Boni, Deputy Mayor of the Municipality of Bologna.

“As physiotherapists, so much of our work is about rehabilitation. When this is over, patients are sometimes forgotten. InAbled Cities provides tools to people with disabilities and the elderly for the performance of physical activity after rehabilitation” Esther-Mary D'Arcy, Chair of Europe region World Physiotherapy

Alex Agius Saliba, member of the European Parliament, closed the conference dedicating a few words to the importance of physical activity for Mental Health.

The Executive Committee of the Europe Region of World Physiotherapy met after the event to discuss issues related to the region.

We would like to thank MEP Rosa Estaràs Ferragut for hosting the conference, all those who participated and attended and of course to all the partners who have made this project possible.

Find out more about the four intellectual outputs developed throghout the InAbled Cities project on the webpage.

The recording of the event is now available on our Youtube Channel!