The Infrastructure Podcast: Episode 83

Guest:  Meg Ginsberg, Assistant Project Manager at South West Water and Founder of Construct Ability

Making infrastructure accessible

In the podcast today we talk about the challenge of inclusive design and how to make the infrastructure sector more accessibility to a wider range of society.

It’s a huge issue and “not merely a problem to be solved, but a commitment to ensuring independence and dignity for all.” 

Not my words but those of my guest today Meg Ginsberg, who describes herself as an assistant project manager at South West Water, charity founder and disabled mum. 

As a wheelchair user who has forged a career infrastructure,Meg knows first-hand the challenge of both improving accessibility for disabled professionals in the industry but also the vital difference that her perspective brings to decision making.

According to Meg, while hiring diverse employees capable of adapting, upskilling, and delivering is key to success in construction, the employment rate of disabled people is 53%, compared to 82% of non-disabled people.

Perhaps, she adds, because one in five disabled individuals is unable to travel due to the lack of appropriate transport options, a reality that impacts the lives of the 16M disabled people in the UK.

For example, she says, a wheelchair user's commute can take up to five times longer than that of a non-disabled person in London. Therefore, closing the transport accessibility gap for disabled people in the UK, she says, could deliver economic benefits of over £70bn per year through improved well-being and access to education and employment.

Meg is tackling the challenge head on and has founded the Construct Ability charity which she hopes will refocus attitudes and provide the tools to create a society where infrastructure is not a barrier to, but a facilitator of equal opportunities for all.

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