Disability is transgressive. I am a changemaker by social location as a member of a marginalized group working in the heart of a luxury industry. I am a changemaker by directing the global conversation - academic, professional, and consumer - toward fundamentals of disability culture such as Universal Design, resiliency, innovation, and social inclusion. I am a changemaker by asserting - and then proving in the field - that the environmental sustainability ethic of green design is complimentary to the social sustainability ethic of Universal Design.
The tumble of boulders narrowing the channel of Icicle River make the stretch impassible by kayak and beloved by Rainbow Trout. From above these massive chunks of mountain creating a baffle for the swiftly descending Cascade Range runoff appear to be granite. They are not. They are mica schist.
Hours exploring the shallow hollows in the rock faults, extracting garnet, imitating Hyla regilla, or resting comfortably in the misty microclimate on even the hottest summer day are not forgotten even though this bend in the river has remained equally impassible to wheelchairs since I adopted mine 35 years ago. The trout and I share a secret love.
I want to see the travel & hospitality industry embrace diversity.
As a Featured Commentator for "The Power of Place" I offer this guidance to Geotourism Challenge applicants.
Questions for Geotourism Nominees
Dr. Scott Rains consults on Universal Design. His focus has been the tourism industry.
His research on the topic of Universal Design and the travel and hospitality industry has included appointment as Resident Scholar at the Center for Cultural Studies of the University of California Santa Cruz (2004-05). Professional presentations include the pre-conference workshop on travel and Universal Design at the Adaptive Environments Conference in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil (2005), the keynote address at the first International Accessible Tourism Conference in Taipei, Taiwan (2005), and a plenary presentation at the NICAN conference on Easy Travel in Perth, Australia (2004). He is co-convener of the second International Accessible Tourism Conference scheduled for November 2007 in Bangkok, Thailand and consultant for the September 2007 World Assembly on the U. N. Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities in Seoul, South Korea. Rains’ scholarly work includes editorship of the first body of research on travel and disability in the field of Disability Studies with the publication of the 2006 (Vol. 2 Issue 2) of the Review of Disability Studies. He has been invited to edit a follow-up volume after contributing to the Disability Studies Quarterly (March 2007).
He consults with travel agents and tour operators worldwide. Dr. Rains currently works with a three-nation accessible tourism consortium (Turismo para Todos) in South America and assisting the regional governments in the formation of maritime tourism policy. His daily column is the Rolling Rains Report on Travel, Disability & Universal Design at www.RollingRains.com.
Dr. Rains is the former Director of Programs and Services at SeniorNet, an international peer education network of seniors teaching technology to seniors that is based in San Jose, California. The position included oversight of SeniorNet’s 200+ Computer Learning Centers in the U.S., curriculum development, and international expansion.
