On 30 September 2026, the MONA project partners met at the Veluwezoom Visitor Centre in Rheden for the third in-person training of the project. Building on the discussion started at the previous MONA webinar on accessibility in nature areas, this in-person training turns specifically to mobility, thus going further into what it actually takes, to reach and move around a nature area.
Transport poverty
Fanny Boccioli (POLIS) began with a presentation on transport poverty and its relevance to sustainable access to nature. She outlined how the affordability, availability, accessibility and adequacy of transport all interact to determine whether people can reach nature areas. Removing barriers to sustainable modes of transport not only reduces car dependency but also opens up nature to groups who currently have no realistic alternative, whether for financial or physical reasons.
Accessible mobility to and within nature areas
Wilma Slinger, Senior Project Leader at CROW, presented a framework for accessibility in nature areas. Slinger opened with the distinction between the medical model and the social model of disability. Under the medical model, disability is something to be minimised by professionals. The social model on the other hand asks how the environment can be designed so that as many people as possible can participate, an approach also reflected in the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.
Accessible mobility in nature areas is not simply a question of whether a wheelchair can use a path. The question is whether a person can arrive, transfer, navigate, travel and reach their destination independently across the entire journey chain. Every link matters: a well-designed route inside a park counts for little if the bus stop at the entrance has a step or the wayfinding at the transfer point is unclear.
For routes within nature areas, requirements include sufficient clear space, limited level differences, a logical main route, clear crossings and signposting that indicates which users a route is suitable for. Accessibility has physical, visual, auditory, mental and social dimensions; a person with dementia needs predictable routes, a person with a visual impairment needs tactile guidance, a child needs information at the right height. The presentation also covered mobility hubs, shared mobility and wayfinding. For shared mobility, both the vehicle and its surroundings must be accessible. Wayfinding was addressed through orientation, navigation and information, with practical guidance on signage, landmarks and decision points. On management, Slinger noted that overgrowth, loose tiles or incorrectly parked bicycles can quickly make a well-designed environment inaccessible, and that people with lived experience should be involved in routine inspections.
Hidden Lives game
The training closed with a practical exercise. Participants chose a persona (someone with a physical disability, a visual impairment, older people or a single-parent household) and worked through a journey from that person's perspective. The Hidden Lives game asks participants to think through concrete moments of friction in an ordinary journey rather than considering accessibility in the abstract. The discussion drew out the range of barriers that exist and how many of them are invisible to those who do not encounter them personally.
This training session marks the start of the third capacity-building cycle, with three webinars to follow until May 2027.
Transport Poverty Fanny Boccioli, POLIS
Accessible mobility to and within nature areas Wilma Slinger, CROW