After Alegro Setúbal became, in January, the first shopping center in Portugal to launch “Silent Hour”, which aims to reduce some of the sensory stimuli present, Alegro centers, managed by Nhood Portugal, listened to the community and announced the extension of the initiative to all centers, located in Alfragide, Castelo Branco, Montijo and Sintra, to provide a more inclusive and transversal reception for all people with ASD.
Quiet Hour: Five centers, every Sunday
Starting tomorrow, April 2nd, as a way to mark World Autism Awareness Day and raise awareness in society, all Alegro shopping centers will have a “Silent Hour” every Sunday, between 10am and 11am, allowing smoother planning and access for all people with ASD and their families.
“The extension of this initiative is the result of the constant listening we do to the territory as part of our policy of proximity to the communities where our assets are located. We believe that by eliminating barriers, we are working together to create more inclusive environments and, in parallel, with this pioneering gesture in commercial retail, encouraging other areas of society to mobilize for a more inclusive future, where everyone has the opportunity to participate fully in everyday life, regardless of their individual characteristics,” says Margarida Madeira, People and Culture Director at Nhood Portugal.
This initiative includes a set of inclusive measures co-created in partnership with the APPDA (Portuguese Association for Developmental Disorders and Autism) in the areas where the centers are located, members of the FPDA – Portuguese Autism Federation, designed to reduce sensory stimuli of people with ASD, such as:
- Turn off music and screens
- Milder downtown lighting
- Stopping the circulation of cleaning carts
- Security team working with headsets
- Employee cell phones in silent mode
- Reduction of light intensity in store windows
“Quiet Hour is an important asset for people with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), enabling equal access to spaces, which are normally hyper-stimulating and unwelcoming for people with ASD. In a society where there are still many obstacles to overcome, we are very pleased to be part of the pioneering start of this initiative in a shopping center and we believe that we are building a path to encourage more spaces to look at this need and embrace these measures” says Carmen Cristino , Vice-President of APPDA-Setúbal.
Daily and free availability of noise dampeners
In addition to the “Silent Hour”, which takes place every Sunday, Alegro centers will also provide free and permanent noise dampers for adults and children, which can be requested every day of the week at the Customer Service Desks of each center, to allow a calmer and more uninterrupted visit for people with ASD, neurodivergence and who are particularly sensitive to noise.
The extension of the “Quiet Hour” to all Alegro centers reinforces the ESG commitment of Nhood Portugal, manager of Alegro assets, in responding to the needs of its visitors, creating a more positive atmosphere in the various aspects of life and joins other sustainable and socially responsible practices already implemented such as Color ADD, a color identification system for color blind people in the Alegro Setúbal parking lot or the COMERCI-ALL – Atender a Todos project, a free training tool made available to store owners in all Alegro centers to enable commercial establishments to better serve people with disabilities or needs.
