Organizers are planning to get rid of all the architectural barriers in places where the events will take place. Adapted and accessible environment is what Belarusian business lacks.
Deputy Director of BEL.BIZ Anastasia Khomenkova says – When we speak about GEW we pay attention to the fact that we offer equal opportunities to companies and natural persons in promoting and realizing their ideas. We understand that everyone has his own possibilities which can be realized in different ways. By joining GEW you can become a partner, a sponsor, can visit events as a spectator or organize your own event.
Last year a very important issue was touched upon during GEW: there are barriers for persons with disabilities – moral, caused by the existence of stereotypes in our society, and architectural.
Then we understood that the problem is very important: there are not so many events and places for communication of representatives of business, without mentioning potential workers with disabilities. Now we are working so that GEW could be held at the special place we are literally constructing. I am speaking about the building of business-club, which will be called “I’m A Guru”, a lot of international business and cultural events will be held there. Businessmen will communicate there and there will also be the possibilities for co-working, startups and freelancers.
As the representative of BEL.BIZ states, now they are changing the architecture of the old factory, for example they are installing a ramp. It will give persons with disabilities a possibility to take part almost in all the events of the GEW. One more important moment: even though we very often hear that we can get consultations at the state level about what and how should be done, in practice we are facing chaos and the absence of the system.
According to the GEW’s in Belarus coordinator Evgeniy Pugach, barrier-free environment is a necessity, demand of our time. There haven’t been such issues abroad for a long time, but unfortunately in our country they still exist.
