Over the years we have partnered with several educational institutions and what started out as an informal program has grown into a core component of our organization. One of our guiding principles is, “Continuous and collaborative learning is the foundation for meaningful change” and one of our core strategies is to “Change the narrative about disability, accessibility, and travel.” By working with students who will be the future leaders across disciplines we are able to impact how travel is experienced by people with accessibility needs. It is not typical for accessibility to be included in discussions related to fields such as design, policy, and marketing. By having Blue Trunk as a partner in the classroom we are able to broaden students’ thinking and to make accessibility part of the conversation.
Over the last several years we have had the privilege of partnering with students at the University of Virginia, the University of Wisconsin-Platteville, the University of Wisconsin-Madison, Connecticut College, and AmeriCorps across a wide range of disciplines including law, computer science, public policy, systems engineering, marketing, and social sciences. In doing so, students have learned how to incorporate accessibility into their fields of study.
This coming year we’ve decided to make the educational component a key program. In doing so we hope to continue to change the narrative around accessibility and travel. We also hope that by engaging students in conversations about accessibility and inclusion we will change the norms of how accessibility is included in everything from design to decision making in this next generation. We are also expanding our educational offerings to professional organizations through webinars and guest lectures. This started with a presentation by our president and advisory committee member, Dr. Christopher Lunsford, to the International Seating Symposium in March. This coming year we are in the process of scheduling more webinars and professional presentations in addition to our student engagement.
If you are a teacher, instructor, professor, or continuing education professional and interested in having Blue Trunk talk your students or clients, please contact us at info@bluetrunk.org. We can’t wait to work with you!
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