Ensuring the creation of a barrier-free space in Ukraine

Abstract

The article reveals the meaning of the concept of "barrier-free space" on the basis of the logical correlation of individual concepts, since today there is no scientifically accepted or approved definition of this concept by the normative acts of Ukraine. It is appropriate to consider that a barrier-free space is an unobstructed living environment where equal opportunities, people’s rights, their equal access to resources and guarantees of assistance are ensured.
The article proves that a significant part of the terms that precede the disclosure of the meaning of the concept of "barrier-free space" are those that require first of all categorical and sometimes conceptual clarification. It is argued that inclusion, as the closest concept to the creation of a barrier-free space, should be understood as a process of ensuring an increase in the degree of participation of all citizens in society. At the same time, inclusiveness must be categorically considered as a characteristic of something: environment, phenomenon, policy, in which the needs of different people are taken into account. These concepts are not identical.
The article defines that barriers, as obstacles on the way to full participation in society, can be divided according to the sign of the creation of such obstacles, namely, into individual, infrastructural, institutional barriers and barriers of tolerance. Overcoming barriers ensures accessibility, which is categorically the result of the process, namely the process of ensuring equal access to all groups of the population to various types of facilities and services, etc. At the same time, barrier-freeness should be considered a concept aimed at creating conditions in which all people, regardless of their characteristics, have equal access to various aspects of public life. It is on the basis of this interpretation of barrier-freeness that other non-coordinated definitions, which contain normative legal acts and various kinds of publications, also come into line.
The article concludes that the creation of a barrier-free space is a process of ensuring the protection and realization of the rights of all citizens in various spheres of public life, and the list of these spheres cannot be exhaustive, as can the actions of all participants in the process. Creating a barrier-free space involves ensuring equal access of people with different abilities to all spheres of public life, which is one of the tasks of government bodies and institutions of civil society.