At a national forum on accessibility, Burgas showed how it has adapted its beaches and bus stops for people with disabilities. The city's chief architect, Tihomir Raychev, presented its experience.
This year the city's beaches have carts for getting into the water and special carts for people with disabilities. Public transport stops have been adapted for them too. Raychev said an accessible environment is a set of measures that takes a lot of work, in buildings, in homes and everywhere around people.
Burgas wants to build on what it has done, he said. Raychev called on all sides to keep up the fight, because it is a constant effort and not a one-off action.
The forum, "From Standards to Reality", brought together experts, people with disabilities and groups that defend their rights or provide services. It is part of the international AccessibleEU project of the European Resource Centre for Accessibility, funded by the European Commission. The forum ends the project's four-year cycle, including in Bulgaria.
The Bulgarian Huntington Association has a centre for families with rare conditions in Burgas. The other is in Sofia. The group was set up in 2015. Its founder, Natalia Grigorova, presented its services at the forum.
The association offers psychosocial support, follow-up care and rehabilitation. It stands up for the interests of patients and teaches their relatives how to care for them. It also runs summer recovery camps for people with rare conditions, where it provides specialist social, psychological and advisory help.
Grigorova said there are 8,000 types of rare disease. One in every 2,000 people is affected, and 95% of these diseases have no cure. In Sofia alone, more than 150,000 people have a rare condition. Both patients and their families face an inaccessible environment.
Steli Peteva, director of the Institute for Social Services in the Community Foundation, said of accessibility: "We all know that it is everyone's right and that the state has a commitment to guarantee it."
Peteva said the forum looked at accessibility in several areas: the urban environment, digital processes and products, and services. She said all of these should be good quality, easy to understand, useful and easy to reach. Accessibility is no longer seen as charity or as something free, she added.
Peteva said Bulgaria's rules are developed enough, because the country has brought its laws in line with EU requirements. There is a framework, a direction and clear responsibilities, and there are tools to apply pressure when they are not met.
Radina Doneva, one of the founders of the Bulgarian Design Council, said accessibility should be built in from the start of a design, so the world is convenient for everyone. "Design shapes the world, accessibility decides who that world is open to," she said.
On 15 October Burgas council said it would take voters with poor eyesight or difficulty moving to polling stations in the 25 October election. The service was by request and cost the same as a public transport ticket. The council also published a list of polling stations with accessible facilities.
Doneva said design should serve as a national resource that helps the state make better public decisions. Designers are valuable partners in building services, she added. The Bulgarian Design Council is a platform for designers from different fields.