Brazil: Ambitious Plan for 2004 Conference on Adaptive Environments

Adaptive Environments celebrates 25 years of international leadership in human-centered design with a new graphic identity and a third international conference on universal design.

Adaptive Environments, an international nonprofit organization based in Boston dedicated to enhancing the experiences of people of all ages and abilities through excellence in design, is celebrating 25 years of service with the launch of a new graphic identity, website and the announcement of its third international conference on human-centered design-Designing for the 21st Century III- that will be held in Rio de Janeiro on December 8-12, 2004.

Over the past 25 years, Adaptive Environments has led the way locally, nationally and internationally in the development and promotion of human-centered design. Human-centered design is the realization of truly "social" design at its best. It begins with the conviction that real excellence in design- from urban design and architecture to product design and information design- is directly related to how well the design works for the greatest number of people across the broadest spectrum of ability and age. Also known as universal design, it is a powerful approach to creating beautiful places, things and communications that are most capable of enhancing human experience.

"Our goal is to be a catalyst here and abroad for changing the way we view design and how human-centered design, in all disciplines, can truly enhance the quality of life and daily experience of people everywhere," says Valerie Fletcher, Executive Director of Adaptive Environments. "Our 25thanniversary presents a great opportunity for us to celebrate all we have accomplished so far with a new and vibrant visual identity and website, our third international conference and the launch of a number of exciting new initiatives."

Adaptive Environments' third international conference on universal design, Designing for the 21st Century III, will be held in Rio de Janeiro on December 8-12, 2004. Plans call for over 800 attendees from around the world. Designing for the 21stCentury I, was held in 1998 in New York attracting 450 participants and the second conference, held in Providence, RI had nearly 700 attendees. Those two events brought together government officials, designers, academics, students, business and NGO's from around the globe. The 2004 conference hopes to attract even broader participation from many more nations.

The international conference planning committee includes: Co-chair Professor Jim Sandhu of Inclusive Design Research Associates, Ltd. in the UK; Co-chair Valerie Fletcher, Executive Director of Adaptive Environments in Boston; Professor Singanapillai Balaram at the National Institute of Design, India; Veronica Camisao, host partner, CVI-Rio; Sylvia Clark, Executive Director NEC Foundation; Roger Coleman, Director; Helen Hamlyn Research Center at the Royal College of Art, London; Keiji Kawahara, International Association for Universial Design, Tokyo and Francesc Aragall, President, Design-for- All of the EU.

Ricardo Gomes of San Francisco State University and founder of the Center for Global Design, will chair the Student Design Competition. Elaine Ostroff, Co-Founder of Adaptive Environments and Co-Editor of the acclaimed Universal Design Handbook, will lead the International Universal Design Educators Forum with Marcelo Guimaraes, Director of Adaptse, Unversidade Federal de Minas Gerais.

To date, co-sponsors for the conference include the NECFoundation of America, the Universal Design Consortium, Japan and Metropolis magazine.

The conference program is divided into three sequential sections: Pre-Conference Intensive Workshops, the Core Conference and Post- Conference day-long sessions focusing on Universal Design Education and Latin America Universal Design Strategic Planning.

A central feature of the conference will be a interactive learning experience (design charrettes) dedicated to a specific design problem-solving exercise that pairs experiential learning and citizen participation on the assessment and re-design of real places. Teams composed of Brazilian and international participants will visit real sites in Brazil and work with actual users to address issues and make recommendations for enhancing the site.

In addition to workshops, design charrettes and plenary sessions, the conference will include: anInternational Student Design Competition to design a multi-purpose community center; the Ron Mace- Designing for the 21st Century Awards; an Exhibit Hall and Closing Reception.

Additional information about Adaptive Environments can be found at www.AdaptiveEnvironments.org.

More information about the Designing for the 21st Century III International Conference on Universal Design can be found at www.designfor21st.org

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