Despite the increasing resources on inclusion, accessibility biases persist in the built environment. Inclusive design solutions are often developed in parallel to architecture, intersecting at the end of the projects. A 2019-2020 survey with 87 Romanian professionals (69% architects) revealed a confusion between accessibility retrofitting and inclusive design, reflected in the poor accessibility of public spaces. Developing an inclusive built environment requires collaboration between various stakeholders, including architects, public administration, engineers, developers, and activists. 

Empathy exercises are essential to shift perspectives, moving beyond disability simulations to involving people of diverse abilities that can bring their lived experience into the conversation. In 2022, we organised The Empathy Retreat, an intersectional research project in which the participants contributed to writing the first Romanian inclusive design guide. We brought together 32 people of different ages, from various social and professional categories, among them architects, urban planners, expert citizens, public administration, activists, from the queer spectrum, with visual, locomotor, hearing disabilities, neurodivergent people or (temporarily) without disabilities.

The retreat emphasized understanding human diversity, intersectionality and inclusion through a 3 days program: 

• 1st day – Listen & Share: Discovering personal stories, identifying biases and exclusion situations. 
• 2nd day – Experience: Identifying obstacles in Sibiu’s public spaces, sharing diverse experiences. 
• 3rd day – Analyze & Act: Learning about inclusive design, conducting accessibility analyses, and discussing participants’ expectations from an inclusive design guide. 

The results included changes in participants’ perspectives and professional practices and the publication of Romania’s first inclusive design guide. Follow-up surveys showed shifts in how participants perceive disability, with many integrating inclusive practices into their work. The retreat was an inclusive context of dialogue that helped us give participants the aha-moments they needed to see accessibility and inclusion as a natural part of the design process. Designing and facilitating initiatives like this provide professionals within the built environment with insights, essential for them to adopt inclusion as a guiding principle in their practice.Further research is needed to include the empathy exercises into academic curricula, overcoming biases.