L’inclusività nei luoghi della formazione. Il progetto dell’accessibilità nelle residenze universitarie. Inclusiveness in Educational Places. The accessibility Project in University Residences

Among the 1,600,000 students enrolled in Italian universities, 36,000 have a disability, and although universities have implemented policies aimed at inclusiveness, the number of applicants is still small when compared with the European average. There are many reasons for this, but there is no doubt that the difficult accessibility of educational spaces contributes to keeping this percentage low. Regarding the design of university residences, which are now real places of training, the reference legislation (Law 338/00) and the decrees that define their qualitative and quantitative standards, have distinguished them-selves since they were first issued, also for the attention paid to the issue of accessibility. Allocation of 5% of the accommodation places to students with disabilities, 10% increase in the available surface area, and the presence of toilets for users with disabilities on all floors where there are collective service areas are just some of the regulatory constraints that have allowed an increase in the level of accessibility and inclusiveness of the facilities. The contribution, thanks to 20 years of research activity on the subject, aims to return a critical picture of the state of the art in Italy and Europe related to inclusivity in university residences in Italy, analyzing, through case studies, some solutions adopted at the design stage in reference to the specific building structure and the urban context.