After undergoing a peer review process Urbanage has been selected to take part in a Poster Session at the Living Knowledge Conference in Groningen between the 29th June and the 1st July.
Entitled - New Synergies in Research with and for Communities - the aim of the event is to bring together all those involved in doing or supporting research with and for communities and learn from each other. For Urbanage, with its deep focus on older adult inclusion and co-creation in urban planning we hope to share our engagement lessons and lean about the collaborative approaches of others in creating an inclusive, equitable, healthy and sustainable society.
Our poster session abstract:
"People are living longer lives. In the next decade, 1 billion individuals across the globe will be 65 years or older. At the same time, the proportion of the world’s population living in cities will drastically increase. As people age, inequalities in the physical environment arise making it harder for older adults to move about and socialise freely. It’s clear that to sustain happy and healthy populations, the Public Sector everywhere needs to urgently plan for longer urban-based lives. In an age-friendly city, policies, services, and structures related to the physical and social environment are designed to support and enable people to “age actively”, meaning to live in security, enjoy good health and continue to participate in society. Yet in reality many older adults feel disengaged with policy processes and can feel lonely and under-valued as a member of society. As a result, services that are thought to be inclusive often fall short. For example, the benefit of accessible buses can be lost by poorly situated bus-stops with lack of seating, no shade and/or high kerbs. The H2020 research and innovation project, URBANAGE, disrupts the status quo by recognising the untapped potential in bringing together the end-users (older citizens and civil servants) and empower them with the use of disruptive technologies to support evidence-based decision making in the field of urban planning. Its decision-support Ecosystem brings together complex big data sources from across the city and uses digital twin, big data and predictive algorithm technologies to model, experiment and explore proactive interventions for aging well in cities. Empowered by this visual technology, traditionally disenfranchised older people can more easily interact and work with urban planners to co-create adaptive, age-friendly cities. For the Living Knowledge poster session, URBANAGE would like to draw upon the experience of its partners in Helsinki, Flanders and Santander and showcase/discuss important lessons learned in engaging older adults, and adapting technology, for co-creating solutions that help everyone grow older gracefully in urban environments."
For more information and/or to register for the Living Knowledge Conference visit - Registration | 9th Living Knowledge Conference