Breaking barriers: the journey of ZJU's “loving” Accessibility Advocacy Club

“Infinite distances and countless individuals, all resonate with you and me.”

Initially, teachers from the Institue of Accessible Design under the Architectural Design&Research Institute of Zhejiang University put forward an idea, aiming to rally some students to establish a youth team to engage in accessibility practice, volunteer service, and concept propaganda. With an interest in accessibility design and the aspiration to contribute to accessible environment construction, two freshmen students, CHEN Ziyi and WENG Fengtao, along with their seniors FANG Yan and FU Youyou, and several other like-minded students, actively signed up. Under the guidance of LU Ji, the teacher from the Architectural Design&Research Institute of ZJU, a group of enthusiastic ZJU students, passionate about public welfare, began to form a accessibility advocacy group.

At the beginning, they focused on accessibility environment research and practice, attracting attention from students in other majors regarding the field of accessibility. One day, a thought arose within the group, hoping to establish a long-term student club to gather more ZJU students, fully utilize the expertise of various majors, and consistently contribute youthful energy to accessibility construction. Thus, with the support of teachers from the Institue of Accessible Design, the group dedicated themselves to preparing for a club. After formulating the articles of the club, with the promotion and call mainly from the students in the College of Civil Engineering and Architecture of ZJU, more than 40 new members were recruited. They conducted partial accessibility facility renovations in Zijingang Campus of ZJU and Gongshu District Library, and then met the strict requirements for club establishment set by the university within half a year. In December 2020, the 'Loving' Accessibility Advocacy Club was successfully founded. FANG Yan served as the first president, FU Youyou, CHEN Ziyi, and WENG Fengtao served as the first presidential team.

Fortunately, in the first year, the club received care and guidance from LV Shiming, the Vice Chairman of the China Disabled Persons' Federation. The club adheres to the mission of contributing youthful energy to the construction of an accessible and inclusive environment for everyone and focuses on public welfare services for accessibility, helping people with accessibility needs, calling for attention to accessible environment construction, and aiming to build a loving club.

After three years, the club has developed into a medium to large-scale one with 81 members from more than 30 majors. While everyone is leveraging their expertise, they never forget their original intentions. The question “Why do you want to join our club?” has become a required question during annual recruitment interviews.

Since its foundation, the club has been thinking about how it can use its advantages to achieve innovation, as a student club of ZJU. In terms of voluntary public welfare, members visit various accessibility venues for observation and research and participate in urban public facilities accessibility renovation projects. In terms of publicity, the club organizes on-site accessibility explanations and interviews with figures, leading more peers to understand accessibility and calling for more people to join the team. In terms of scientific research and practice, members conduct scientific and technological innovation projects and social practices under the guidance of their teachers. In terms of exchange and learning, the club maintains close exchanges with other universities such as Tsinghua University and assists municipal disabled persons' federations, Asian Games organizing committees, promotion associations, and other departmental organizations to facilitate broader exchanges and cooperation.

In order to help the disabled integrate into society, the club has made a lot of efforts and formed a series of brand activities with the core concept of integration of the disabled and the non-disabled. Through characteristic activities, such as integration sports events, the Community allows the disabled to integrate during communication and gain a sense of participation and happiness during activities. To encourage and help the disabled to open up and integrate into society, is the most earnest expectation of the club.

Currently, the club carries out six major brand activities, including knowledge popularization, quality courses, annual forums, voluntary research, interviews with figures, and integrated sports events for the disabled and the non-disabled. Through these activities, the club is gradually establishing a nationwide barrier-free alliance among universities, hoping to gather the strength of various universities to contribute more to the field of accessibility and help more people to obtain the care and assistance from society.

ZJU's “loving” Accessibility Advocacy Club will continue to move forward, hoping to make a barrier-free world with love.

Adapted and translated from the article written by People’s Daily, Xinhua News, Chao News, CHEN Ziyi, WENG Fengtao and CHEN Si

Translator: HAN Xiao ('25 Higher Education)

Photo: ZJU's Accessibility Advocacy Club

Editor: TIAN Minjie