News British experts will train Brazilians who work in the culture industry on how to improve accessibility for artists and spectators during a free course at the Rio 2016 headquarters on Friday (31 July) and Monday (3 August) The Accessibility in Culture Workshop will be attended by about 100 people who work at museums, theatres and other cultural centres The event is being promoted by British Council and taught by Shape Arts – a British organisation responsible for one of the most popular series of events by artists with disabilities during the London 2012 Cultural Olympiad, the Unlimited festival Among the teachers will be Barbara Lisicki, who worked as accessibility manager at the London 2012 Ceremonies Ltd, and Zoe Partington-Sollinger, director of the Architecture Inside Out project, which brings together artists and architects with a disability to explore new concepts of accessible spaces “Our goal is to help the Rio 2016 Games leave a lasting legacy for people with a disability,” said Partington-Sollinger “As artists or spectators, we want to make sure they can have more access to cultural spaces in Rio, as happened in London after the Games ”Members of the culture, accessibility and sports departments of the Rio 2016 Organising Committee will also be trained so they can ensure the best possible experience for spectators and athletes with a disability during the Olympic and Paralympic Games The workshop is a result of a partnership with Celebrate, the Rio 2016 cultural programme, and the British Council Friday’s module will discuss ‘Olympic and Paralympic Legacy – Best Practices in Brazil and the United Kingdom’ Monday’s module will be ‘Scheduling and Communications – How to Schedule, Produce and Promote the Work of Artists with a Disability’ The initiative will involve another event focused on customer care at the Rio Arts Museum (MAR), for institutions enrolled in the Unlimited network A similar course took place in São Paulo last November and resulted in the production of the Accessibility Guide on Culture (available in portuguese only)