All Things Iceland23 Mars 2023

Wheelchair Accessibility in Iceland – Interview with Halli Thorleifsson

I have another fantastic interview to share with you this month. This time around it’s with Haraldur Thorleifsson or “Halli”, as he likes to be called. Halli was born and raised in Iceland and has achieved some incredible things, such as building a successful design company and selling it to Twitter.

In 2022, he was named Person of the Year in Iceland, was awarded the Order of the Falcon (the highest honor one can receive in the country), and he has lived in many cool places around the world. You can learn more about his accolades on his personal website.

Ramp Up Iceland – Increasing Wheelchair Accessibility in the Country

While I find all those things to be interesting, what intrigued me the most is the work that Halli is doing to provide ramp access across Iceland for those who are in wheelchairs, have a stroller, or just find that a ramp is easier for them to walk up than stairs. The project is called Ramp Up Iceland or Römpum Upp Ísland.

For updates about the project in English, click here.

During the interview, Halli and I talk about all of this and the fact that he has muscular dystrophy. The CDC describes muscular dystrophy as,

a group of muscle diseases caused by mutations in a person’s genes. Over time, muscle weakness decreases mobility, making everyday tasks difficult.”

Please note that this interview was conducted in Halli’s apartment in February 2023 so the sound quality will be different than what you hear right now. Also, this interview was recorded before Halli and Elon Musk had a huge argument on Twitter. During the back and forth, Elon embarrassed himself and eventually had to apologize to Halli.

If you use Twitter, I highly recommend following Halli there. He is very active on that channel and shares quite a bit.

Follow Halli on Twitter

Twitter

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