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Building Nature Trails Accessible to Blind People
Nature recordist Juan Pablo Culasso on making parks and trails more inclusive
© najarich
When Juan Pablo Culasso spends time outside, he often encounters people thinking he doesn’t belong out there as a blind person – despite the fact that he’s a renowned nature recordist. He helped design nature trails in Colombia with features that make them more accessible for people who are visually impaired, including guide ropes with textures that signal points of interest and QR codes that provide info. But Juan Pablo says these are not simply trails solely for blind people to enjoy — “we need to share the same places in society,” he says.
BirdNote®
Designing Nature Trails Accessible to Blind People
Written by Conor Gearin
This is BirdNote.
[Colombian forest soundscape]
When Juan Pablo Culasso goes to spend time outside, he often encounters people thinking he doesn’t belong out there as a blind person – despite the fact that he’s a renowned nature recordist.
Juan Pablo Culasso: We need to change the culture and the behavior of people to understand that blind people can go outside and enjoy nature like whatever person.
Juan Pablo helped design nature trails in Colombia with features that make them more accessible for people who are visually impaired, including guide ropes with textures that signal points of interest and QR codes that provide info. But Juan Pablo says these are not simply trails solely for blind people to enjoy.
Juan Pablo Culasso: It's for blind people, of course, but it's for all. Because we need to share the same places in society. Make places exclusively for blind people or whatever other disability, in my opinion, is an exclusion. All these things are for everyone, for older people, for children, pregnant, people that broke a leg and is temporarily disabled.
[Colombian forest soundscape]
Juan Pablo Culasso: So many people decide for us. No, he can't walk on this trail, because the trail — there are a lot of branches in the floor. Ask first, never decide for us. And the second thing is, do nothing to us without us.
For BirdNote, I’m Jonese Franklin.
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Senior Producer: John Kessler
Producer: Mark Bramhill
Managing Editor: Jazzi Johnson
Managing Producer: Conor Gearin
Content Director: Jonese Franklin
Bird sounds provided by The Macaulay Library of Natural Sounds at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, New York. Environmental ML271922 recorded by Mauricio Alvarez.
BirdNote’s theme was composed and played by Nancy Rumbel and John Kessler.
© 2023 BirdNote November 2023
Narrator: Jonese Franklin
ID# culassoj-01-2023-11-30 culassoj-01
Conor Gearin
Writer