From Playbook to Practice: Mainstreaming Inclusive Climate Infrastructure Design

On Tuesday 22 September, as part of New York Climate Week, we will spotlight the Inclusive Climate Infrastructure Design Playbook, published by the Global Disability Innovation (GDI) Hub through the AT2030 programme, funded by UK International Development.

The session will explore what it takes to move from principles to practice in designing and delivering infrastructure that is both disability-inclusive and climate-resilient. It will provide a starting point for practitioners, policymakers, designers, researchers and others to consider how inclusive approaches can be embedded across the development of cities and infrastructure globally.

The Playbook will serve as a guiding resource for the discussion, helping participants critically examine the practical considerations, opportunities and challenges involved in putting inclusive climate infrastructure design into practice. Through a combination of presentation, panel discussion and participant reflections, the session will bring together a global audience interested in applying inclusive design approaches across housing, transport and public spaces.

More than half of the world’s 1.3 billion people with disabilities live in towns and cities, where they can be disproportionately exposed to the impacts of climate change and climate-related disasters. At the same time, around 60% of the built environment that will exist by 2050 has yet to be constructed. This presents a critical opportunity to shape cities and infrastructure that are resilient to a changing climate while responding to the diverse needs and experiences of people with disabilities.

Inclusive climate infrastructure design brings these priorities together. It is an approach to co-designing physical spaces, services and systems that anticipate, prepare for and adapt to changing climate conditions while enabling accessibility and equal participation for all. By embedding inclusion and resilience from the outset, infrastructure can help prevent, absorb, recover from and adapt to disruptions caused by current and future climate risks, while strengthening the resilience and participation of people with disabilities.