Adaptive Environments Center

Misson and activities:

to promote,facilitate, and advocate for international adoption of policies,programs and designs that enable every individua, regardless of age or ability to participate fully in all aspects of society.
Adaptive Environments developed and manages the Universal design Education Project (see web site) and is also the New England Center for Americans with Disabilites Act (ADA) technical assistance. Also works on the ADA in public schools.

Our organization works at the international level.

Our organization is to some degree run, controlled and represented by disabled people.

We have expertise, or are interested in cooperating with other organizations, in the areas of:

Accessible public transportation.
Awareness raising.
Children with disabilities.
Coalition building and networking.
Education and vocational training.
Employment.
International development and disability.
Legislation.
Self-advocacy.
Universal design.
Professional education, specifically in design disciplines, for people with disabilities. How can we encourage and support people with disabilites to enter the design professions? Also, we have been promoting the concept of the "user/expert " as essential in the teaching and learning in design education for people who will be the architects, interior designers, industrial designers, landscape architects, etc of the future. in the teaching and learning process for future designers; in design practice and in design related policy development.
Also, we are now beginning to work with the city of Boston on a major urban planning project. We welcome people with interest and espertise in including universal design at the urban planning scale.
Adaptive Environments is a source on information and implementation for the Americans with disabilities Act; on universal design education; on the involvement of user/experts in design, education and advocacy; on home modifications. We have convened international conferences, in cooperation with other organizations. In Massachusetts we helped create the Community Access Monitor Prgram in 1985. Thousands of activists have been trained in access survey strategies and techniques. This program has been replicated in a number of US states. We have produced numerous technical publications on all of the above. Also have a lot of experience in home modifications, including advocating for systemsd that make home modifications available.
We are now planning the next international conference on universal design of information, productds and environments to be held in the year 2000.
We have cooperated with organizations in other countries before:

1.E&C Project in Japan. exchanging materials, assisting in national visits in US; organizing participation in international conference, Designing for the 21st Century, held in June of 1998. 2. EIDD, participating in their European conference; planning international exchange of faculty and students.

Contact us:

This entry added: Sunday 30th November 1997. (record #11) Changed: Friday 1st April 2005. Link checked Saturday 31st August 2024.