Building a more inclusive Tromsø. This year’s European Youth Capital puts accessibility first.
True North 2026 has three main pillars that guide them through their year as the European Youth Capital. Sustainability, creativity, and inclusiveness are common threads throughout the year with regard to everything they do.
In October, the True North team invited all of Tromsø to increase their awareness of how we can create a more accessible society. Accessibility Awareness Week was a week where people with different physical disabilities and neurodevelopmental disorders were front and centre.
Would you like to know more? Get in touch!
Walk a mile in their shoes brings a new perspective
Everyone knows that we have a society enriched with different abilities. Everyone knows that some people have a poorer vision, and in some cases, are completely blind. Everyone knows that some people have difficulties walking, and in some cases, cannot walk at all.
But do we really know how it is?
During the Accessibility Awareness Week, the audience got to experience it for themselves. During their 1-kilometre-long walk, people experienced being partially or completely blind, or sitting in a wheelchair.
Mari from True North was blind during this walk.
"I experienced the world in a completely different way. There was a car honking, I flinched and screamed because I got so startled and all sounds became amplified. I was walking with a cane, and while I tried to navigate through the street, my cane got stuck in different places and I walked into an advertising sign. It was hard, and I was blind for 20 minutes".
Accessibility Awareness matters to the Youth Capital
Being the Youth Capital of 2026, Tromsø and True North have the means and interest to focus on every aspect of being young. Their goal is to make Tromsø, Northern Norway and the Arctic a better place to live, work and create. This also includes youth with disabilities.
“If we can help provide more accessibility awareness to disabled youth, then that is a part of our tasks as the Youth Capital”, says the project leader for the Accessibility Awareness Week, Marius Hanssen Høgås from True North 2026.
What did the Accessibility Awareness Week teach us?
During the Accessibility Awareness Week, there were panel discussions, workshops and comedy shows. The people on stage were mostly people with different disabilities, sharing stories from their lives.
The most important lesson from the week was that we need a change in the societal attitude towards people with a disability.
One of the stories being told was by a young man in a wheelchair. He told a story that depicted a common occurrence when he was in a store with an assistant.
“I was in a clothing store with one of my assistants. I wanted to buy a new sweater. When we rolled up to the cashier, it was like I did not exist. The entire time she only spoke to my assistant, instead of me. My assistant was not the customer, I was”.
An accessible community is not only about having a universally designed layout, but about actually seeing them for the person they are.
Two blind girls also told us that they often experience people coming up to them to help, but instead of listening to what the girls need, the helper tells them what they need. It is very easy for someone to think they know better because they can see everything, but even if their eyesight is not the best, they are still in charge of their own life.
“People grab our arms and say: come here, let me help you. But we did not want their help. I can manage just fine on my own.”
However, they did express that it is nice to receive help. But it has to be on their terms.
Building stronger people and communities at the same time
It seems that people have decided that it is a lot of work to create an inclusive community. But the question one could ask ourselves is: how hard is it really?
If everyone agrees that a good community for everyone is an accessible community, then together we could build stronger and more robust people and communities.
Related articles & publications
European Parliament backs a stronger Erasmus+: now it's time to deliver for young people
Last week, the European Parliament adopted its position on the next Erasmus+ Programme for 2028–2034, and there is good news for young people! But the job is not done yet.
Joint letter: Erasmus+ is a bargain: at least 47.4 billion for all our progress
Joint statement on the Crackdown on LGBTQI+ organisations and young human rights defenders in Türkiye
The European Youth Forum stands in full solidarity with the LGBTQI+ organisations, activists and young human rights defenders targeted by coordinated search, raid and detention operations across Türkiye since the night of 12–13 September 2026.