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Ageing, Adaption and Accessibility: Time for the Inclusive Revolution!
Chapter 6:
The role of motivation, supported learning and self-efficacy Onny Eikhaug Norwegian Design Council
Onny Eikhaug is the Programme Leader for Design for All at the Norwegian Design Council. She is a business woman with an MBA, co-author and editor-in-chief of the book Innovating with People: The Business of Inclusive Design, and committed promoter of sustainable, people focussed design. Being a Norwegian national, she talks keenly about the strong government focus and commitment toward inclusive design in her homeland. Indeed Norway is one of the leading authorities in implementing the principles of inclusive design as a strategy for innovation and creation of a more sustainable society. “We have come quite far now and we have quite aggressive legislation to enforce inclusive design as a fundament for everything we do for the public and
also private development”, she explains. The Norwegian approach stems from the Nordic model of social governance driven by a strong sense and notion of equality toward diversity and inclusion within society. In addition, since 50+ year olds constitute about 80% of the purchasing power and wealth in the western world, it is almost a no-brainer that competitive advantage in today’s world can be largely gained by targeting a wider range of customers. Although the Norwegian Design Council has been very successful in promoting the uptake of people-centred design, Eikhaug stresses that the future of innovation in this space relies on a close collaboration with other people focussed centres of excellence, as well as the government and commercial organisations, because no one centre has all the answers. The huge potential of the internet allows people previously excluded from full participation in society finally to become integral and appreciated members of society. Eikhaug tells the story of a blind man who interacts with other people by taking photographs of different places and individuals that he encounters, and