On 14th October, AGE took part at the final conference of the INNOVAGE project, on the topic of Social Innovations for Active and Healthy life expectancy’. The conference aimed to introduce the main project results : an assessment on how social innovations’ impact is measured, the outcomes of four implemented social innovations, and the guidelines on involving older persons’ in social innovation processes. The event was also an excellent opportunity to share experiences on social innovation in the field of ageing.
The event started with an opening statement of MEP Alojz Peterle, followed by an introduction to the INNOVAGE Project by Pr. Alan Walker. The European Commission highlighted several initiatives that support social innovation processes in the field of active and healthy ageing. As a result of the project, the lack of measurement of impact of social innovations was highlighted, and especially the lack of measurement on Healthy life expectancy.
The four tested social innovations were then introduced:
After lunch, the event opened to exchange of best practice in the field. AGE, represented by Maude Luherne and Judy Triantafillou (50+Hellas, Greece), introduced the Guidelines on older persons’ involvement in social innovation processes. These guidelines aim to provide practical information and step by step guidance for any stakeholder who would like to engage older persons in social innovation. AGE reminded participants about key elements to engage older persons: engage them from the beginning and meaningfully, careful plan and foresee adequate financial and human ressources, anticipate risks and use plain language to facilitate communication. The full version of the guidelines is available freely for download here.
The event was followed by experience from new EU member states, and by two interesting good practices :
- Preventative home visits (with positive impact measured)
- Blue assist
The conference concluded on a call for continuous support to social innovation in the field of active and healthy ageing, and by a strong support from the European Parliament as shown by MEP Marian Harkin.
More information on the conference (presentations, pictures, videos) is available on INNOVAGE project website.
In particular, you can watch all conference presentations here.
