C.E.R.P.A. ITALIA "Centro Europeo di Ricerca e Promozione dell'Accessibilità ITALIA" is the Italian representative for the European Centre of Research and Promotion of Accessibility which, being an associative organization, is represented internationally throughout European nations.

C.E.R.P.A. ITALIA's main purpose is to contribute, through the joint activity of its members, to the promotion of a better quality of life, a higher degree of urban-building accessibility and usability for all individuals of all social categories, paying particular attention to those categories considered to be weaker. C.E.R.P.A. carries out promotional activities; it elaborates strategies to increase cultural awareness of the problems linked to mobility, accessibility and usability of the environment; it studies and applies new technologies that may lead to high quality planning and realization in the architectural, urban and object sectors.

To achieve its ends C.E.R.P.A. ITALIA aims to carry out the following points:

1. to develop research and studies on the topics of accessibility and mobility of the weaker individuals and/or of individuals with special needs;
2. to promote cultural and educational events and demonstrations for the operators of these sectors;
3. to set up an information centre on the problems of accessibility and usability of the territory, intended in its widest and most democratic sense;
4. to collaborate with centres, organizations and professionals that operate for and pursue similar objectives;
5. to carry out activities of certifying projects, works and objects in conformity with the spirit of C.E.R.P.A. ITALIA.

Such objectives arise from a series of considerations. In particular they arise from the recognition of a widespread technical-professional dequalification, both with regards to the planning and building phases of interventions aimed at removing architectural barriers and making buildings and towns more accessible. This dequalification is favoured by the proliferation of the legislation of the eighties and nineties both on a central and periferal level. Although this legislation dictated precise standards, it did not in any way contribute to the formation of a clear and organic picture of the real needs of disabled persons/users.Inevitably, then, the Centre's attention is not limited exclusively to the Italian reality, rather it collects and confronts Italian solutions and projects with the most advanced European experiences.
Thus C.E.R.P.A. proposes to contribute to the promotion of a better quality of life and to obtaining a higher level of accessibility and usability of the territory in its widest sense by members of all social categories. The proposal is, naturally, to equip planners, builders, examiners and trial experts with instruments that render uniform the quality of the realizations.