Social influence
The Association of Cultural Centres for Children in Finland carries out investigations and presents proposals, gives expert opinions, recommendations and expert assistance in issues related to child and youth culture. The Association is involved in several projects, in the capacity of an expert, cooperation partner or principal lead partner. Many-sided projects promote access to children’s culture and the cultural rights of children and adolescents.
Access is a central principle for the Association. Access means taking into account the needs of various audiences and designing the supply in an easily accessible form. Equal cultural services are easily accessible. It should be possible for everyone to take part in cultural activities and experience culture despite their personal properties. Accessibility means the promotion of equality, and it is examined from five perspectives.
From the perspective of psychological accessibility, everything that aims at making understanding easier is accessibility. Communicative accessibility has the same meaning. The perspective of social accessibility pays attention to social and cultural aspects, e.g. the needs of representatives of many types of subcultures, ethnic minorities and different social groups. Geographical accessibility refers to regional equality, e.g. within a municipality or a larger geographical area. Economic accessibility is connected to the pricing of services. For instance, the services include a selection of tickets or times when the entrance fee is reduced or the entrance is free of charge. The perspective of physical accessibility pays attention to easy access to the facilities and to their functioning so that it is pleasant and safe to take part in the activities, whether the participants are kindergarten children or people with physical disabilities.
