The problems of the disabled are solved in various ways, depending on the level of social awareness and richness of a municipality.

Due to the progress of civilization and the development of motorization, the number of people with disabilities is still growing. It is believed that people directly and permanently disabled constitute 10% of the whole society. Take for example EU member states where 37 million citizens suffer from disabilities. In a lifetime everybody may become disabled in an accident (e.g. breaking their leg) which occurs either at an advanced age or as physical and intellectual fitness decreases.

The problem of disability affects not only the disabled but also their families, friends and the closest society. Consequently, costs of solving this problem are incurred by the whole society. The disturbing fact is that in the contemporary world a numerous part of our society fails to have an equal access to education, work, culture, and is additionally discriminated owing to their disability. Therefore, the Council of Europe announced 2003 the European Year of People with Disabilities.

The City of Gdynia, being consistent in the realization of its disabled policy “Gdynia Without Barriers”, put forward the idea of SOCIAL CAMPAIGN “WITHOUT LIMITS” at the 34^th Meeting of Union of the Baltic Cities Executive Board in Viljandi, Estonia. The campaign aims at the exchange of experience and cooperation among countries located in the Baltic Sea Region in order to effectively solve problems of the disabled as well as to eliminate social and mental barriers.

The campaign was inaugurated by the UBC Conference “Without Limits”, which took place in Gdynia between 27^th – 28^th September 2002. In the light of the prior survey on the situation of the disabled, conducted in member cities, as well as municipalities’ demand for these issues, the conference presented Swedish experience of disability policy planning at local level known as Agenda 22, an official view of the EU on the disabled as well as examples of specific projects realized by a nongovernmental sector, e.g. Polish Association of the Friends of “Integration” and Polish Association of People with Mental Handicap, Branch in Gdynia. Among projects which met with great interest there were psychological ones Cover and Harmony drawn up by J. Szulkowska, Ph. D. (Gdynia, Poland) which presented ways of coming out of the disability as well as the project showing the place of people with disabilities in e-society, characterised by K. Kikkas, Ph. D. (Tallinn, Estonia).

During the conference, Gdynia, as the first Polish municipality, accepted the document Agenda 22 – Disability Policy Planning Instructions for Local Authorities which was prepared by The Swedish Co-operative Body of Organisations of Disabled People. Agenda 22, written on the basis of 22 Standard Rules of UN General Assembly, is a guide for self-governments which facilitates local disability policy planning.

Next stage of the social campaign “Without Limits” assumes work in particular Commissions referring to the possibilities of the integration of the disabled.

We encourage everybody to cooperate with us. Join our UBC Social campaign “Without Limits”!

Ewa Depka

City of Gdynia

Phone: + 48 58 620 83 12

Fax: + 48 58 621 86 20