How accessibility makes for a more liveable city

An innovator with Parkinson’s that is determined to map the world over for wheelchair users and produce better outcomes for people with disabilities through smarter data.

A scientist and former C-level marketing executive who now specialises in bringing new ideas and innovation to life, he has worked on both sustaining and disruptive innovations. Eckhard's approach to innovation is influenced by his broad science education, the rigour of an MBA and 35 years of business experience. Eckhard has a constant thirst for knowledge and an ability to delve deeply and broadly into problems to see the fundamental innovations required to transform markets, categories, products and services.

Julia Suh is a leading voice in citizen-led urban development, and specialises in applying human-centred design as a tool for social change and advocacy. Julia’s purpose is to train and inspire communities to build a positive relationship with their local public spaces and each other. Small Shift does this by hiring people with barriers to employment and unlocking their potential to take the lead in city-making.

She has taught and practiced architecture, placemaking and urban design from New York, Auckland, Hanoi and Sydney, building an extensive knowledge of various communities and urban spaces that support or neglect them. In 2017, Julia was one of 10 Australians to be awarded Westpac Social Change Fellowship.

Julia received her M.Arch. from Yale University, B.Arch. with First Class Honours from the University of Auckland, and training in Qualitative Research Methods from the London School of Economics and Political Science.

Mark Tomkins is a passionate community activist for the rights of people with disability seeking possibility and change for all Australians with disability. He is currently mentoring a number of young people with disabilities and is on a number of disability advisory committees in the Victoria Region.

Mark has held positions in Access and Inclusion as manager across four councils, utilising a degree in urban and town planning, and is a specialist in accessiblity standards. From his athletic, acamedic, professional life, and as a person using a wheelchair — Mark has an insightful perspective on what makes a city liveable.

Professor Pascal Perez is a world leader in participatory modelling of complex systems. He is the coeditor of Complex Science for a Complex World – Exploring Human Ecosystems with Agents (ANU-E-Press). Before joining the University of Wollongong, he has been a team leader at CSIRO and an associate professor at the Australian National University.

Professor Pascal Perez has 20 years' experience working in Southeast Asia, Western Africa, Pacific Island countries and Australia. He is responsible for the management and delivery of all aspects of infrastructure modelling and simulation at the SMART Infrastructure Facility, University of Wollongong. His research areas and expertise is urban liveability

Martin works for the iconic guidebook publisher Lonely Planet as accessible travel manager and editorial advisor, and recently appointed as chairman of Board of Directors at IDEAS.

His early career was as a freelance editor in London, Hong Kong, Tokyo and Melbourne in a wide variety of genres. Martin's long-term passion is visiting countries and regions off the beaten track.

Martin has always been lobbying for services for people with disabilities. He has founded a blog and a Pinterest account in 2013 to raise awareness on the issue and established the Travel for All community at Google+. Martin has published the Accessible Travel Online Resources guide for all those wanting to learn about accessible tourism destinations and experiences from around the world.

Martin brings a unique blend of being a person with a disability, an editorial advisor at Lonely Planet, masters degree at RMIT Melbourne and global experiences of what makes a liveable city.

William Verity has worked as a journalist and author for Australia's premier publishers and broadcasters. After a career as a print and audio journalist, he is now working as a digital media specialist for the Leader of the NSW Government in the Upper House. He is also producing podcasts, online features, and communications material for the University of Wollongong.

Nick holds a degree in human movement, is an accredited accessibility consultant with the Accessibility Consultants Association of Australia and has qualifications for both the secondary and vocational educational sectors. In 1996, as part of the Aussie Rollers, he won a Paralympic Gold medal in Atlanta.

In 1997, Nick was awarded an Order of Australia medal for his services to sport. After consulting on the 2000 Olympics and Paralympics, Nick was invited to become the inaugural expert accessibility advisor for the International Paralympic Committee which he did from 2004–2012. This required him to mentor organisers of Commonwealth, Asian, Pan American and Paralympic Games as to how to create accessibility within their cities. Nick has also been on ABC TV program New Inventors as a judge and is currently a judge for the Australian Event Awards.

For the last 20 years Nick Morris, Director of Moriss Access Consulting, has been helping to identify the key issues of accessibility and find practical solutions for planners, developers, architects (building, interiors and landscape) and building consultants. Ultimately, to ensure they provide functional and technical compliance to relevant legislation.