AT2030: Para Sport Against Stigma Learning from Systems, Storytelling and Assistive Technology

The AT2030 Para Sport Against Stigma Programme is a multi-phase research and practice initiative funded by UK International Development and led by Loughborough University in partnership with organisations across Southern Africa. It explored how Para Sport, media, storytelling, and assistive technology could work together to challenge disability stigma and evolved through cycles of reflection and learning shifting from an early focus on broadcast access and Paralympic visibility toward a deeper understanding of how stigma is structurally reproduced through systems, and what it actually takes to enable participation.

The project's conclusion centres around the concept that disability stigma is structural and cannot be addressed by periodic campaigns or Games-time broadcast coverage alone. Meaningful change requires sustained, locally led work across multiple interconnected systems, long-term investment in learning and adaptation, and a recognition that visibility without access can actually reinforce exclusion. Looking ahead to LA 2028, the project calls for stronger alignment across sport, health, education, media, and policy, with assistive technology placed at the heart of any serious approach to inclusive participation.