It’s not every year you turn 40 and when you do so, one thing is clear: a special occasion calls for dressing up to the occasion. During this month, EBU has launched its 40th Anniversary logo (see the header and footer of this page), as well as a video to commemorate the organisation’s four decades of existence. These materials will be used throughout 2024 in our external communication as items to remind everybody about our role as the voice of blind and partially sighted people in Europe since 1984.
EBU’s Executive Director, Lars Bosselmann, reflected on the special meaning of this historic moment. “These 40 years have seen us contributing to help improve the lives of persons with visual impairment. Our role in the inception of the European Accessibility Act or the Marrakesh Treaty or our campaigning for the promotion of pharmaceutical Braille are good examples of that”, underlined Lars. Other key feats of our organisation during this period include our collaboration with the European Central Bank to work on the accessibility of Euro coins and banknotes or our VISAL project, an initiative aimed at improving the situation of persons with age-related visual impairment.
However, even with all these achievements, blind and partially sighted people’s lives are still full of challenges. In spite of advances in legislation at a European level, much more work needs to be done in areas such as access to employment, access to information or personal mobility. “As our Anniversary video explains, EBU remains a key ally for our blindness and partial sight communities across Europe in the promotion of our rights”, says Lars. “In order to do so, we will use our past achievements as cornerstones of our present work and to further explore the different ways for promoting accessibility and inclusion in our society”, he adds.
As part of our dissemination strategy to promote EBU’s highlights through its 40-year story, we will distribute a brochure in the context of our 12th General Assembly that will take place in Lisbon between 11th-14th February. The Anniversary logo will also be featured at the event as part of the banners that are going to be used. Further activities will be carried out throughout the year to commemorate our anniversary and to underline our role as a stakeholder to help blind and partially sighted people lead fulfilling and independent lives.
The anniversary logo can be seen in the header and footer of this page!