Be. Lab - formerly known as Be. Accessible - was launched in 2011 with the aim of creating a 100% accessible New Zealand.
Our aim is for New Zealand to become the most accessible nation in the world.
To do this we work with leading organisations and citizens to enable greater accessibility for all, whilst also redefining the way accessibility is thought about and discussed.
We challenge all of Aotearoa to reimagine our world and embrace the opportunities accessibility presents.
The world is changing rapidly and accessibility in New Zealand is now at a critical juncture. New technologies and global trends around social and environmental values are allowing us to question what we want our future world, and our future society, to look like.
However, unless we are actively designing access into all products, services, employment, education and the broader economy, the default position will remain inaccessible to the 25% of New Zealanders living with access needs.
We believe that New Zealand has an opportunity to become a world-leader in accessible social and economic development and we invite you to join us in this mission.
We support our nation's leaders, innovators, and makers to reimagine our world and embrace the opportunities accessibility presents.
In 2011, we launched Be. Accessible (now Be. Lab) as a social change campaign to change the way Kiwis viewed disability. The catalyst for this was the Rugby World Cup - a major tourism event which presented an opportunity for New Zealand businesses and communities to demonstrate their openness to all people, including those with access needs.
Our foundational programmes were designed to respond to the social, physical and personal aspects of life for all access citizens and create a world in which we can all thrive.
Thirteen years on, we have worked with hundreds of businesses and made thousands of access improvements across the country, as well as catalysed a community of access leaders and innovators.
Today, Be. Lab is established as the go-to partner for delivering a 100% accessible New Zealand, inspiring and working with organisations and citizens to achieve this goal.
Our goal of making New Zealand the most accessible nation in the world often requires changing or shifting what has already been designed to make it more accessible than before.
But what if that was no longer necessary? What if accessibility was inherently designed into every new innovation from the very beginning?
Beyond accessibility lies possibility, a space where citizens imagine a world that is different to the status quo. At Be. Lab, we work in partnership with our sister organisation, the Global Centre of Possibility @ AUT to continue transforming the conversation from disability, through accessibility and into the realm of possibility.
