Reflections from ZeroCon25 | Scaling Inclusive Innovation Globally – Regont Arnori

A diverse group of 14 professionals, including one individual using a wheelchair, stand smiling in a bright, modern hallway at an event.

Craftsmanship, purpose, and what it means to walk beside innovation.

Every year around springtime, more than 1,000 delegates from over 90 countries gather at the United Nations Office in Vienna for the Zero Project Conference — one of the world’s foremost gatherings focused on accessibility, inclusive innovation, and systemic change.

You’ll find policy-makers and entrepreneurs, researchers and technologists, funders and founders — all working across borders and sectors to build a world with fewer barriers for persons with disabilities.

But for me, this year’s #ZeroCon25 wasn’t just a conference.

It was the continuation of a journey I’ve had the privilege of walking for the past two years — and a reflection of the kind of work I want to keep doing: work that connects strategy to purpose, systems to stories, and ideas to real-life impact.

What is the Zero Project?

A speaker addresses a full audience at the Zero Project Conference, with large screens and wood-paneled walls in the background.

Led by the Essl Foundation, the Zero Project is a global initiative advancing the mission of a world with zero barriers for persons with disabilities.

Each year, it identifies and showcases outstanding solutions — policies, services, and technologies — that improve the lives of people with disabilities around the world.

But showcasing is only one part of the mission.

The next step is where the real complexity begins: helping proven innovations grow beyond their home markets, into new regions, languages, systems, and partnerships.

That’s where the Scaling Solutions Programme comes in.

Scaling Solutions: Taking Impact Further

A panel of speakers seated onstage at the Zero Project Conference, with a large event banner and captioned screen behind them.

The Scaling Solutions Programme is a year-long initiative that helps selected disability innovations prepare to scale across borders. It is led by the Zero Project and powered by a growing group of funding and implementation partners — including the Essl Foundation, Fundación Descúbreme, GIZ on behalf of the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), Atos, EnAble India, and Inclusive Creation.

Each year, a cohort of Scaling Fellows — from NGOs to social enterprises — is selected for this journey. They come in with a solution that already works. The goal is to figure out how to make it work elsewhere, too.

They receive:

A tailor-made Scaling Portfolio – a practical roadmap to expand their solution.
Strategic facilitation to refine goals and scaling pathways.
A dedicated expert Advisor matched to their needs.
Connections to funders, policymakers, and implementation partners.
Visibility at major global platforms like the #ZeroCon or Global Disability Summit.
Support for localization, partnerships, and pilot design.
Ongoing advisory and follow-up throughout the year.

It’s not a training course. It’s not a mentorship bubble. It’s not a coaching programme.

It’s an ecosystem — one that grows as the Fellows grow.

My Role: Walking the Path With Them

Four smiling participants stand in front of a Zero Project banner at the conference.

As part of Inclusive Creation, I serve as the lead facilitator of the programme. That means I walk closely with each of the Scaling Fellows from the moment they join to long after they’ve presented on the UN stage.

I help them:

Clarify their scaling goals.
Research international markets.
Spot the right partnerships.
Navigate funding logic.
Document the pathway forward in a tailored Scaling Portfolio.

But more than that, I listen.

Because scaling is rarely a clean line — it’s a layered process with stops and shifts.

And my job isn’t just to give answers — it’s to ask the right questions, at the right time, in the right way.

This is strategic work, yes — but also relational, contextual, and careful.

And in many ways, it mirrors how I approach my work at ARN crafting identities and digital experiences that feel clear, built-for-purpose, and anchored in the real world.

The View From the Inside

Four conference attendees smile together in a networking area at the Zero Project Conference.

This year, I facilitated fourteen scaling journeys — each with its own momentum, challenges, and potential. From AI-based screening tools in Mexico to tactile playgrounds in India, from inclusive hiring models in Chile to emotional support robots in the Netherlands — the range of innovation was extraordinary.

But what united them was this: they were all solving real problems. And they all had more to give — if the right conditions were in place.

We worked closely to define those conditions.

And along the way, we built a shared language: between Fellows, Advisors, and Funding Partners.

Together with Dr. Anthony Giannoumis, we helped facilitate:

Public storytelling through Pathways to Zero Barriers – the official programme podcast.
Masterclasses, webinars, and instructional videos.
A 2-Day Pitch Training Bootcamp – hosted in Vienna.
Monthly group meetings to track progress and foster shared learning.
One-on-one consultations tailored to each Fellow’s scaling needs.
On-demand support for technical, product, or partnership challenges.
A shared digital workspace for collaboration, updates, and peer exchange.

Building the Infrastructure of Support

Group of six panelists smiling together after a conference session, standing behind a table with nameplates at an international event.

Scaling requires more than good ideas.

It needs trust, timing, and scaffolding.

That’s why part of my work was also about building spaces:

A private workspace for Fellows to learn from each other.
An Advisor Circle to offer grounded, relevant feedback.
Community rituals to create cohesion across the months.
A podcast, Pathways to Zero Barriers, to bring these stories to the world.

I designed the podcast story arc, structured the interviews, and ensured that what was said reflected both the practical and emotional truth of the scaling journey.

Because visibility matters.

And sometimes the best way to teach is to share.

A Moment at the United Nations

Panelist raising a red assistive device while speaking during a conference discussion, seated among fellow speakers.

#ZeroCon25 culminated with something unforgettable:

Our Scaling Fellows presenting their work on the UN stage — not as guests, but as peers among leaders from Netflix, Google, the World Bank, and global NGOs.

Watching them speak — clear, grounded, ambitious — I felt something settle.

This is why I do what I do.

To help others translate their clarity into action.

To build bridges between purpose and structure.

To walk beside impact, not in front of it.