President Lenin Moreno of Ecuador welcomes BBI Chairman Peter Blanck to Presidential Palace - Burton Blatt Institute

January 14, 2019

Translated from PublicaFM and EL TELEGRAFO

President Lenin Moreno welcomes Peter Blanck, Chairman of the Burton Blatt Institute and the Global Universal Design Commission (GUDC), to the Government Palace according to the General Secretariat of Communication of the Presidency.

The meeting will take place at 11:15. The text indicated that Blanck is in the country at the invitation of the Metropolitan Public Enterprise of Tourist Destination Management, Quito Turismo.

The entity invited the expert to deliver a certification to the Metropolitan Convention Center of Quito on January 17. The building is “the first building in Ecuador that complies with universal design standards for buildings for public use,” the statement said.

Blanck is also Chairman of BBI Burton Blatt Institute and directs Raising the Floor (RtF). In turn, he is an honorary professor at the Center for Disability, Law and Politics, at the National University of Ireland, Galway.

The academic was a member of the Presidential Committee for the Employment of Persons with Disabilities, ex-trustee of YAI / National Institute for Persons with Disabilities. He is also the author of books on disability laws and policies.

The GUDC is a nonprofit corporation, established to develop Universal Design (DU) standards for buildings, products and services.

The institution is currently developing voluntary DU consensus standards for commercial buildings. The purpose is to expand access to buildings for all people, regardless of their physical stature and different capacities. EFE (I)

About the Burton Blatt Institute

BBI reaches around the globe in its efforts to advance the civic, economic, and social participation of people with disabilities, with offices in Syracuse, NY, New York City, Washington, D.C., Lexington, KY, and Atlanta, GA. BBI builds on the legacy of Burton Blatt, a pioneering disability rights scholar, to better the lives of people with disabilities. For more information about BBI, visit: https://bbi.syr.edu.

About the Global Universal Design Commission

GUDC is a not-for-profit corporation established to develop Universal Design (UD) standards for buildings, products and services. GUDC is developing UD voluntary consensus standards for commercial and residential buildings, which will expand access to buildings for all people, regardless of physical stature and varying abilities. The approved UD standards will help guide corporations and government entities in the creation of barrier-free facilities, providing diverse users with access to commerce, public services, entertainment, housing, and employment opportunities. For more information about the GUDC, visit: http://www.globaluniversaldesign.org/.