Within the Accessible Recreation community, many parties work together to also offer people with disabilities a day out or a night out. According to initiator Karin Stiksma, it is precisely these people who are most in need of fun and relaxation. Experts by experience play a crucial role in the process. Stiksma: “They themselves know best what they need.”
Karin Stiksma is the founder of Joint Projects, a company focused on increasing inclusiveness within the leisure sector. “I would like to support people who require something different or who need more to experience fun and relaxation,” Stiksma says. “It’s nice to be able to give those people a helping hand.” A year ago, Stiksma founded the Accessible Recreation community, a professional, business network for parties at the cutting edge of accessibility and recreation. The community supports recreation entrepreneurs to become accessible, using all the knowledge and opportunities available.
Cross-pollination
“Lots of parties play a role in making a day out or a night out accessible,” Stiksma explains, “such as manufacturers, recreation entrepreneurs, advocates, government and education.” When an organisation becomes a subscriber to the community, employees can ask questions and share knowledge on a forum. They also get access to a knowledge base with best practices, a toolkit and research reports, among other things. There is also a monthly Digital Wake Up: an early online session where all kinds of stakeholders from different sectors can learn from each other. “I very much believe in cross-pollination,” Stiksma explains. cross-pollination,” Stiksma says. “For example, a museum can learn a lot from the experiences of a cinema.”
