Family and Community Services have continued to support the Naturally Accessible project into phase 2, which will run over the 2017 financial year.
This next phase of the project is about scaling up, and testing the boundaries of the naturally accessible framework by doing something really big – initiating the world’s first overnight bushwalk.
Our 5 outcomes will be:
- Guide a series of 3 trial overnight walks with different groups of people with varying abilities. This will allow us to learn more about, what makes a great walking experience, what information can be added/removed and improved, learn how the experiences vary in different weather conditions, capture video and photos that can be used to promote the idea of overnight walking with people with disabilities.
- Create bushcraft information tailored to people with disability. Helen and I have created a website http://www.bushwalking101.org/ that helps people new to bushwalking learn what to pack through to how to read a map. We would like to upgrade the website to include information to help older people and People with disability deal with general barriers of access. EG how to carry gear in a wheelchair, how to pitch a tent with limited mobility, toileting (catheterisation in the bush etc). Web sites and books with information like this are common for most bushwalkers but such information is not published for people with disability. We would like to create and share helpful and practical information like this that is written to help break down barriers.
- Promote the Naturally Accessible idea and manual to other land managers. We have had great success in sharing what we have learnt including a short disability 101 style presentation to a series of managers at NPWS and other groups. It has created a great deal of enthusiasm for the Naturally Accessible project and for broader inclusiveness. We would like to extend this presentation to 4 face to face session with councils then run a live public webinar, encouraging councils to improve access and inclusiveness through the framework we have developed.
- Build and share a community-driven list of potential candidates for Naturally accessible walks, asking people to provide photos and a list of barriers & facilities.
- Run a series of live webinars working through tips and tricks on how to bushwalk, for older people and for people with disability. This would build on the bushcraft information we are developing and help us better understand how to prepare people with disability for overnight bushwalks by responding to a wider range of questions and responses. It would also help us build a bigger online community to help us with the other two parts of Naturally Accessible stage 2.
