EBU in action – Details, episodes & analysis

The Paris 2024 Paralympic Games were a great party for the promotion of sports among our communities. In this segment, you will listen to the testimonials of those who made this fantastic event possible, such as Italian blind judoman DongDong Camanni and the Head of the Paralympic Games Integration Ludivine Munos. 

Furthermore, you will listen to the interesting perspectives of Laetitia Bernard, a blind journalist from Radio France, and Pádraig Healy, the National Sports Development Manager at Vision Sports Ireland, who were also present at the event.  

Link to segment's transcript: https://tinyurl.com/bdfr54j3 

Casting your vote or running for office as a visually impaired person is possible today, but it's not an experience free from challenges.

Fredrik Stockhaus, a blind politician from Sweden, and Armin Rabitsch, the Democracy and Election Expert of Election-Watch.EU, reflect on the current state of this subject for blind and partially sighted people ahead of the 2024 European Parliament Elections. 

Furthermore, our hosts also talk to Luana Schena, from one of our Swiss members, the Swiss Federation of the Blind and Visually Impaired (SBV FSA), about her organisation's commitments in areas such as its advocacy work around the revision of the Disability Discrimination Act in Switzerland or a campaign promoting digital accessibility.  

Link to the segment's transcript: https://tinyurl.com/45kfne2c 

The beginning of 2024 was marked by the organisation of our 12th General Assembly on the year of our 40th Anniversary. 

This episode covers the main highlights of it, including a recap on the situation of blind and partially sighted people in Ukraine, a conversation with Christopher Patnoe (Google) on artificial intelligence and a discussion of the results of EBU's Board Elections with the newly elected President Tytti Matsinen and our new First Vice President Bárbara Martín. 

Link to the segment's transcript: https://tinyurl.com/3f8zhvva   

As part of its Strategy for the Rights of Persons with Disabilities 2021-2030, the European Commission presented a legislative proposal for a European Disability Card in September 2023. Antoine Fobe, our Head of Advocacy and Campaigning, discusses the proposal in more detail with Claire Damilano (European Civil Action Service). 

In this segment, we also talk to Dorota Krać about the Polish Association of the Blind engagements in areas such as accessible art or the promotion of a new standard code for official buildings.  

Link to segment's transcript: https://tinyurl.com/r7u29cjv  

Although social media platforms bring some accessibility challenges with themselves, disability organisations can also benefit of their outreach to promote their commitments. We learn more about the pros and cons of these platforms with Natalia Suárez (European Disability Forum) and Ville Lamminen (Finnish Federation of the Visually Impaired).

In this episode we also speak to Madeleine McNamara, from Vision Ireland, who tells us more about our Irish Member' actions in key areas such as healthcare, mobility and sports.  

Link to the segment's transcript: https://tinyurl.com/3u4zr864 

Artificial Intelligence has a lot of potential when it comes to offering solutions to persons with disabilities, but there are also many challenges to be tackled in this area. Jude Stern (IAPB) and Kave Noori (European Disability Forum) offer us a very fruitful discussion about this subject.

In this episode, we also travel to Montenegro to talk with Anđela Dragović to learn more about the Union of the Blind of Montenegro's commitments in areas such as braille labeling or employment. 

Link to the segment's transcript: https://tinyurl.com/5tt2sna2 

We discuss with Bart Simons and Javier Pita about the different ways to make information about consumer products accessible, such as using braille labels or scanning NaviLens QR Codes.

We also talk with Reiner Delgado, from the German Federation of the Blind and Partially Sighted DBSV, who gives us a better insight into the daily challenges for visually impaired people in Germany.

For more information about this subject, watch our video about Braille: https://tinyurl.com/2b3yww2w

Link to the segment's transcript: https://tinyurl.com/bdzbjthn 

In this first episode, Erwin Denninghaus and Friederike L. Kühl, two experts involved in the PAsCAL project, talk about the potential benefits of Connected and Autonomous Vehicles for blind and partially sighted people, while also analysing their challenges for our communities.   

We will also speak to Francesca Sbianchi, from our Italian National Member UICI, to learn more about its current commitments to promote the rights of visually impaired people in Italy. 

Link to the segment's transcript: https://tinyurl.com/y93pveua 

On February 18th 2025, the European Blind Union hosted a cocktail event at the European Parliament under the kind sponsorship of MEP Li Andersson (The Left/GUE-NGL), who we had the pleasure of talking to.  

The meeting gathered other MEPs and their assistants, giving them the chance to liaise with representatives of EBU National Members and discuss the priorities for visually impaired people in their countries.  

Francesca Sbianchi, Chair of EBU's Advocacy Committee, and Antoine Fobe, EBU's Head of Advocacy and Campaigning, were also present at the event and shared with us their impressions on our organisation's future advocacy work. 

Segment's transcript: https://tinyurl.com/sdkebyxd  

In a year marked by the 2024 EU Elections, the European Blind Union has gone through many internal changes so our organisation can optimise its advocacy efforts. Our President, Tytti Matsinen, and our Executive Director, Lars Bosselmann, discuss EBU's priorities for the upcoming five years. 

In this segment, we also get to know Anja Uršič, from the Union of the Blind and Partially Sighted of Slovenia, who presents us our Slovenian Member actions in areas such as access to the labour market or the promotion of accessible tourism.   

You can find the episode's transcript available on our website: https://tinyurl.com/2zyn9hfe