Tallinn looks outside for ideas

TALLINN - Tallinn will host the second international conference ‘Cities for All - Tallinn for All’ on May 27, 2011, where participants will discuss mobility-related issues, review reasons behind the success or failure of mobility projects in various countries, and discuss the social, economic and environmental impact connected with it, reports news agency LETA.

Speakers are expected from England, Finland, Austria, and France.
The keynote speaker will be Rama Gheerawo from the Helen Hamlyn Center for Design at the Royal College of Art; Hanna-Leena Rissanen will present research carried out by the Aalto University in Helsinki, which is entitled ‘Future Public Transport for All’; Veolia’s example, presented by Claude Arnaud from France, attempts to demonstrate that involving designers in creating new solutions has proven to be appropriate; Eric Rhinn speaks about the design process for public transport in Saint-Etienne.

Veronia Egger will provide examples about the generation of efficient mobility prototypes; Fabien Combe is a designer who has worked on urban sustainable mobility.
The conference will be opened by Finn Petren, the president of the EIDD Design for All Europe and will be moderated by Pete Kercher.

Panel discussions will be held with the participation of professors of Estonian higher educational institutions and internationally recognized mentors (Julia Cassim, Francesc Aragall, Avril Accolla and others) who will be leading the implementation of the project named ‘Cities for All - Tallinn for All.’
This is an international cooperation project, whose objective is to find solutions for turning Tallinn into a more accessible and user-friendly city. The project will be held by the Estonian Association of Designers, and the results of the first work groups will be analyzed within the workshop held on May 26.

Final innovation proposals, as well as new product and service projects, can be seen in September, at the exhibition taking place in the framework of the European Innovation Festival and the Design Night.
Mobility affects independence, communication between generations, and participation in the life of the community. Mobility has an important social dimension. A human society must take into consideration all the groups of people when designing an environment. The Design for All platform brings together designers and architects with a holistic mindset, who care about people for whom they design new products and services or buildings.