Transforming Together! A Connected, Equitable and Sustainable Age Friendly World for all generations

• From Interest to Implementation: Advancing Age-Friendly Cities and Communities at national level.
• Shaping the Global Age-Friendly Research Network.
  Concept note and Registration form.
• Introduction to AFCC – focus on cities and communities (Greater Manchester Combined Authority).
  Concept note.
• Meeting multilateral agencies and development banks.

• Mega-map on Interventions and Programs for Age-Friendly Environments.
  Concept note. Registration form.
• Approach to evaluating and monitoring the Villes Amies des Aînés (VADA) programme: the example of the label « Ami des Aînés®» by the Réseau Francophone des Villes Amies des Aînés (RFVAA).
  Concept note.
• Workshop lead by the AF Basque Country Team: How to promote citizen involvement in the age-friendliness project?

• Integrating Care for Older People through Age-Friendly Cities and Communities Workshop: Translating continuum of integrated care into AFCC Action. 
  Concept note - Registration form available here.
• Age-Friendly Cities in Numbers and Faces: Global Insights from the AFCCQ.
• Forum of Mayors.
  Municipal leadership in the face of the challenge of ageing.
• Citizens' Summit on Age-friendly Leadership.

• Strengthening the links between Human Rights, Equity and Age-Friendly Environments.
  Concept note. Registration form available here.
• PREVENTION: CONGRAL, Sanidad, WHO and Caixa.
• The age-friendly journey of the Nordic region: Progress and future directions.
  Concept note. Registration form available here.
• GNAFCC Affiliates knowledge exchange and insights from the GNAFCC affiliates research project.
• Age-friendly Cities and Communities Beyond the Global North: Co-Creating AFCC Frameworks in Low-Resource Contexts Across South Asia and the Middle East.
• EuroCities meeting.

Housing: Ms. Emer Coveney, National Programme Manager, AFI Shared Services.

• Eduardo José Fierro Carballo: “Bizihabi: intergenerational shared housing to reduce loneliness.
• Hans Christian Sandlie: “Housing at the centre of age friendly policy: the norwegian national programme for age friendly housing.”
• Raquel Valadés Rodríguez: “SHARE: A new model of lifelong housing that regenerates urban spaces. The Fuenlabrada Intergenerational Pact.”
• Maria Raquel Magalhães de Castello-Branco: “Aconchego Programme.”
• Emer Coveney: “Age Friendly Ireland is a national organisation that is bringing about a transformational change in how Irish society prepares for population ageing.”

Social participation: Mr. Jaco Hoffman, Professor of Socio-Gerontology, North-West University, South Africa.

• Stian Fantoft Alvestad: “Citizen Participation for Age-Friendly Communities: A Case Study of Stavanger, Norway.”
• Maria Teresa Villarreal de Dillon: “Beyond Adherence: Strengthening Municipal Capacities and the Role of Citizen Participation in the Sustainability of People-Friendly Cities.”
• Edurne Martinez Rodriguez: “The Power of Older People to Transform Their Environment: Opportunities through ‘Get your neighbourhood moving’ on the Bizan Network.”
• Patty Doran: “Working with older people to shape age-friendly policies and programmes: Insights from a seven-city study.”
• Mélanie Levasseur: “Trajectories of social participation and connection in aging women and men: implications for age friendly cities and communities from the canadian longitudinal study on aging.”
• Stefania Butti: “Re-imagining Longevity: Active co-researchers and the Role of Older Adults in Designing Inclusive Communities.”

Civic participation and employment: Ms. Natalie Turner, Deputy Director for Localities, Centre for ageing better, UK.

• Natalie Turner: “Age-Friendly employers: how to create age-inclusive workplaces.” [English]
• Veslemoy Risnes Lerheim: “Longer work life for senior employees.”
• Silvia Gascón: “Universities as catalysts for the decade of healthy ageing: the unides model of social innovation, public value, and global alignment.”
• Joanna Sun: “Building a global consortium for dementia-inclusive environmental design: connecting researchers, practitioners and communities across continents.”
• Marisa Sheldon: “Age Friendly Scholars: A Replicable Model to Expand Workforce and Research Capacity for the Age-Friendly Global Movement.”
• Andrea Pozo: “A roadmap for implementing an age-friendly programme in local establishments through the active participation of older people.”

Outdoor spaces and buildings: Ms. Emi Kiyota, Associate Professor, Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine and College of Design and Engineering, National University of Singapore.

• Jose Chong: “Reclaiming public space for all generations: advancing age-friendly environments through global frameworks for inclusive urban development.”
• Siri Beate Arntzen-Ratnarajan: “Ageing in the Arctic.”
• Ranganayaki Thangavelu: “Making Community Participation real and powerful – SALT-CLCP as a practice method to make actual voices from the ground to be heard.”
• Nadia Oktiarsy: “Flood Adaptation in Aging Urban Areas: Spatial and Community-Based Insights from Bekasi City, Indonesia.”
• Melanie Davern: “What makes places liveable for older people? Insights from an Australian study through a capabilities lens.”
• Holger Pfeiffer: “Ageing in Duesseldorf - local strategies for an age friendly city.”
   

Community Support and Health Services: Ms. Yuka Sumi (WHO).

• Kristen Collins: “Bridging Borders and Generations: A Model for International, Intergenerational Community Building in Tsukuba, Japan.”
• Maria Pilar Monge Diest: “CuidArte in supportive communities: an evaluation of a group-based sociotherapeutic intervention.”
• Lok Sze Dorothy Yeung: “Realising Dignified and Inclusive End-of-Life Care in Age-Friendly Communities: A People-Centred Policy Framework from Hong Kong.”
• Margareta Eriksson: “System transformation for an age-friendly city and  improved and more equitable public health.”
• Miguel Ángel Acosta Benito: “Age Friendly Health Centers: A Model for Enhancing Primary Care for Older Adults in Community Settings.”
• Salume Okure: “Advancing Age Friendly Environments in Low-Resource Settings: A Community-Led Model from Soroti City, Eastern Uganda.”

Respect and Social Inclusion: Ms. Aparna Shankar, Professor of Psychology, FLAME University, India.

• Ewa Wodzyńska: “When Older Voices Take the City: A Live City-Level Case Study of How Age-Friendly Policy Becomes Visible in Public Space.”
• Laia Ortiz Castellvi: “From silent exclusion to inclusive transformation: a methodological framework for community services in the context of dementia.”

Transport: Ms. Olga Sarmiento, Professor of Public Health, Universidad de los Andes, Colombia.

• Hilda Rømer Christensen: “Mobility in old age: How rollers and walking can be integrated into age-friendly cities.”
• Félix Delgado Pérez: “Ageing in one’s own home: community governance, assistive technology and flexible services in a rural municipality (Villadangos del Páramo, León).”
• Ana Maria Medina: “Care as a critical tool to evaluate the city: contributions and limits of the age friendly cities model in Bogotá, Colombia.”
• Melanie Davern: “Meaning of neighbourhood liveability for older adults, Brisbane, AUS.” [Inglés]
  Hanna Vangen: “Housing Characteristics and Mobility Patterns in Later Life.”

Communication and Information: Ms. Moon Choi, Endowed Chair Professor of Aging and Technology Policy, KAIST Graduate School of Science and Technology Policy, South Korea.

• Silvia Elena Saavedra Ibarrondo: “PALOMA: empathetic artificial intelligence to build more friendly and connected cities.”
• Eva Salaberria: “Onkide: digital equity and older people as agents of change in technological transformation.”
• Lucía Gómez Aguilera: “Level Up: Tools for Strengthening Older Adults’ Ability to Recognise Disinformation Online.”
• Vanessa Silva: “Digital inclusion is associated with advanced activities of daily living in older people participating in social groups in a municipality in Northeast Brazil.”

• 10:00–11:30: ADINBERRI SAIOA.
  The Kursaal’s Urumea Terrace. A live event modelled on a television programme designed to encourage physical, cognitive and emotional activity among older people. The initiative forms part of the strategy for active and healthy ageing promoted by the ADINBERRI Foundation of the Provincial Council of Gipuzkoa.
• 15:30-17:00: URBAN FOREST BATHING (FOREST THERAPY).
  Aiete Park (meeting point: Aiete Cultural Centre. House of Peace and Human Rights). Organised by the Basotik Foundation of the Provincial Council of Gipuzkoa. The aim of the activity is to experience the benefits of contact with nature for the health and well-being of older people, in line with Gipuzkoa’s policies on care and healthy ageing. The activity, to be held in Spanish, will be led by a facilitator trained in forest therapy. 30 places available.
• 17:00-18:00: RECORDING OF THE PODCAST ‘FRIENDLY CITIES AND COMMUNITIES AND LOCAL CARE ECOSYSTEMS’.
  Espacio Gunea, at the Gipuzkoa Provincial Council Building (Plaza Gipuzkoa). Speakers will include Alexandre Kalache (President of the International Longevity Centre Brazil (ILC-BR), Co-Director of the Age Friendly Foundation and Co-President of the Global Alliance of International Longevity Centres); Mayte Sancho (Director of Imserso) and Maite Peña (Councillor for Care and Social Policies). 80 places available.
• 18:00-18:30: URBAN RITUAL – BODY AND MOVEMENT FOR ENCOUNTER.
  The Kursaal’s Urumea Terrace. A performance featuring older people and residents from different neighbourhoods across the city, which highlights the body, movement and artistic practices as tools for fostering connections, care and community. The event raises the profile of local initiatives that position older people as active participants in urban life and the pursuit of the common good.
• AUZO ORRI.
  Paseo de la Zurriola, throughout the Congress. An initiative launched in the Gros neighbourhood – the city’s oldest neighbourhood – by various public and private community stakeholders from sectors such as health, sport, culture, youth, social action and local commerce, which, through stories about everyday life in the neighbourhood, fosters spaces for meeting, conversation and collective creation from an intergenerational perspective.

Connecting Generations, Technology and Care: Bridging gaps between generations, digital divides and primary and secondary care/formal and informal care. Focusing on social connections. Moderator: Kazuki Yamada, Technical Officer – WHO.

• Olatz Irulegi Garmendia: “Transforming Public Spaces to Prevent Loneliness: The KALELAGUN Framework for Age-Friendly and Intergenerational Urban Design.”
• José Miguel Luengo Gallego: “Network of meeting points: ‘In your park or mine’.”
• Pablo Ferreiro: “From participation to social connection: how cities can enable older people to build belonging, networks and collective power.”
• Ariunsanaa Bagaajav: “From a Doctor’s Visit to a Place to Hang Out: Experiences of Social Isolation and Loneliness among Older Adults in Mongolia.”
• Siti Munawwarah Binti Awang Tarif: “Situational Analysis of Age-Friendly Communities in Brunei Darussalam.”
• Olga Sarmiento: “Quality of life, mental health and social relationships among older adults participating in the Recreovía physical activity community program.”

Connecting Generations, Technology and Care: Bridging gaps between generations, digital divides and primary and secondary care/formal and informal care. Focusing on intergenerational connections/solidarity. Moderator: Mellany Murgor, WHO Youth Council Steering Committee.

• Elisabeth Øverland: “Generation games in Sandnes.”
• Sheila Parages Jiménez: “Evaluating Age-Friendliness Across Generations: Psychometric Assessment of the Spanish AFCCQ.”
• Heidemarie Sequenz: “Growing Together: How Cities Are Connecting Generations.”
• Shin-Wee Chong: “Meet & Speak - One Circle, Many Worlds: Building Age-Friendly Communities Through Intergenerational Dialogue.”
• Dania Selena Quirós Zúñiga: “Students from the National University of Costa Rica promoting the use of technology among older people as a means of bridging the digital divide: contributions from an outreach project towards building a senior-friendly city.”
• Sirle Salmistu: “Designing Age-Friendly Environments: The Role of Landscape Architecture in Healthy Ageing.”

Equitable communities: Ensuring that no one is left behind. Focusing on ageism. Moderator: Margaret Gillis, President International Longevity Centre, Canada.

• Natalie Turner: “Age without limits: tackling ageism using behaviour change communications.”
• Alexis Caballero: “Effectiveness of educational interventions to reduce ageism among healthcare students and professionals: systematic review and methodological critical analysis.”
• Sabine Hofer-Gruber: “Impact and role of the Senior Citizens’ Advocate of the city of Vienna.”
• Cassandra Masters: “Pittsburgh’s “Picture This” Age Inclusion Campaign.”
• Jill Litt: “Nature-Based Solutions in Age-Friendly Health Systems to Alleviate Loneliness and Promote Social Connection.”

Equitable communities: Ensuring that no one is left behind. Focusing on Convention on the rights of older persons. Moderator: Rhian Bowen-Davies, Older People`s Commissioner for Wales.

• Ramón Gelabert Chasco: “Older people are the key: participatory community initiatives in rural areas.”
• Alexander Beltrán De Lubiano: “LGTBIQA+ older people: The challenge of ageing.”
• Larissa Marsolik: “Paraná friendly to the elderly – Consolidation and advances in guaranteeing the rights of the elderly.”
• Rhian Bowen-Davies: “Older People’s Rights: From Principles to Practice — Wales as a Case Study.”
• Stefan White: “Designing, Implementing and Evaluating Age Friendly Futures for All: A view from Greater Manchester.”

Connecting Generations, Technology and Care: Bridging gaps between generations, digital divides and primary and secondary care/formal and informal care. Focusing on caring communities - Ageing in place. Moderator: Erkuden Aldaz, Director of the Matia Institute, Spain.

• Pauline DeLange Martinez: “From Engagement to Empowerment: Building Collective Impact and Advocacy Through California's Local Aging & Disability Action Planning (LADAP) Program.”
• Juan Albarrán Aríztegui: “Lagunkoia Pharmacy: from local experience to a regional model of community prevention.”
• V Vien Lee: “Developing Age-Friendly Communities: Insights from Singapore’s Community Ageing-in-Place Ecosystem (CAPE).”
• Sarah Speck: “Community-Based and Alternative Support Forms: Reshaping Family and Ageing in Nepal.”
• Ana Ramovš: "Building capacity, connecting communities: a multi-level model for age-friendly development."
• Begoña Calleja: “Senior citizens' centres as community facilities: adapting to new social and digital challenges.” 

Connecting Generations, Technology and Care: Bridging gaps between generations, digital divides and primary and secondary care/formal and informal care. Focusing on Technology and age-friendly development. Moderator: Joost van Hoof, Professor of urban ageing, The Hague University of Applied Sciences, The Netherlands.

• Kenneth Arguedas Navarro: “Evaluating care innovations: a RCT of home teleassistance for older adults in need of care in Costa Rica.”
• Hannah R. Marston: “What role does technology have to play in age-friendly cities and communities: critical perspectives for 21st society.”
• Oliana Sula: “Age-friendly strategies for bridging the intergenerational digital divide: tackling digital ageism and strengthening  civic engagement in fragile democracies of the Western Balkans countries through new institutionalist lenses.”
• Antonio González-Adalid: “COTI: An AI-Adaptive Social Network Connecting Older Adults, Families and Care Teams.”
• Aleyne Paul Reyes: “Museums, technology and psychosocial well-being in old age: the effectiveness of an ICT-based intervention for cognitive stimulation in healthy older adults and those with mild cognitive impairment.”
• Anna Karenina Dungca: “Making Ageing Visible: AI-Mediated Visual Co-Creation as a Civic Bridge in Age-Friendly Cities.”

Building more sustainable Age Friendly Communities. Focusing on climate change and resilience. Moderator: Gonzalo Lacurcia, UN-Habitat, Spain office.

• Poppy Walton: “Age friendly by design, climate-resilient by nature: embedding ecosystem-based adaptation for intergenerational urban futures.”
• Madhava Ram Balakrishnan: “Advancing climate and age friendly urban approaches in Kochi, India, with implications for strengthening the who-gnafcc framework.”
• Biljana van Veghel Kondić: “Initiating age-friendly and climate-responsive local governance in theWestern Balkans.”
• Mónica Garita Durán: “Research criteria for climate adaptation in older adult populations in Costa Rica.”
• Holly Dabelko-Schoeny: “Age-Friendly and Climate Resilient Communities: A Weather and Aging Resilient Model (W.A.R.M.).”
• Rosa Mari Roig Berenguer: “Environmental risks and older adults: public policy for climate extremes.”

Building more sustainable Age Friendly Communities. Focusing on the sustainability of age-friendly initiatives. Moderator: Kathleen Brasher, La Trobe University, Australia.

• Jeroen Dikken: “Age-Friendly Cities in Numbers and Faces: Global Insights from the AFCCQ.”
• Toshiyuki Okui: “From Local Innovation to Cross-National Mutual Learning: The STRONG Model of Bueng Yitho and the SMART & STRONG Thailand–Japan Partnership.”
• Nur Hasanah Binti Ahmad Akhir: “Bridging Institutional Silos: Implementing the Age-Friendly Cities Framework Across Two Contrasting Municipal Contexts in Penang, Malaysia.”
• Kathleen Brasher: “From vision to evidence: measuring age-friendly progress in Ballarat.”
• Ana Dolores Bojórquez Gómez: “From Policy to Culture: Institutionalizing an Age-Friendly Agenda Across Municipal Government – The Case of Zapopan, Mexico.”

• 18:00–19:30: HARIAK Y HARIAK KANTUZ.
  In the ‘Cámara’ hall at the Kursaal, Gipuzkoa’s strategy for tackling loneliness and fostering relationships: choral music as a community initiative.

Activities planned outside the Kursaal premises.

• AUZO ORRI.
  Paseo de la Zurriola, throughout the Congress. An initiative launched in the Gros neighbourhood – the city’s oldest neighbourhood – by various public and private community stakeholders from sectors such as health, sport, culture, youth, social action and local commerce, which, through stories about everyday life in the neighbourhood, fosters spaces for meeting, conversation and collective creation from an intergenerational perspective.

Discussion groups:

1. Facilitator: Patricia Morsch. Rapporteur: Flor Murillo. (Spanish/Portugese).
2. Facilitator: Mellany Murgor. Rapporteur: Ina Voelcker.
3. Facilitator: Pierre Olivier Lefebvre. Rapporteur: Florence Godmaire-Duhaime and Jean-Philippe Lessard-Beauprè (French).
4. Facilitator: Michael Kimuhu. Rapporteur: Joshua Byenkya.
5. Facilitator: Yudi Pamela Suero Samboy. Rapporteur: Fatima Salomoni.
6. Facilitator: Tamer Mohamed Shousha. Rapporteur: Nur Hasanah Ahmad Akhir.
7. Facilitator: Marta Mèndez Diaz. Rapporteur: Lisa Christina Warth.
8. Facilitator: Andrea Pozo. Rapporteur: Elena del Barrio and Eva Salaberria.

Moderators:  

• Ms. Cristine Young, Chairperson LGProfessionals Western Australia Network Age-friendly Communities, Australia.
• Mr. Paul Mc Garry, Head of Greater Manchester Ageing Hub, United Kingdom. 

AUZO ORRI.
Paseo de la Zurriola, throughout the Congress. An initiative launched in the Gros neighbourhood – the city’s oldest neighbourhood – by various public and private community stakeholders from sectors such as health, sport, culture, youth, social action and local commerce, which, through stories about everyday life in the neighbourhood, fosters spaces for meeting, conversation and collective creation from an intergenerational perspective.

Planned destinations:

• Amurrio.
• Azkoitia.
• Barakaldo.
• Bilbao.
• Donostia - San Sebastián
• Vitoria-Gasteiz.

Objective.
Learning about municipal initiatives within the Euskadi Lagunkoia Network through on-site visits, which will enable participants to explore municipalities in both rural and urban settings, exchange knowledge, share best practices and promote innovative approaches based on citizen leadership, intergenerational collaboration, new housing models, health research and the fight against ageism in different local contexts across the Basque Country.

Visit schedule: from 09:00 to 14:00.

Start and end points: Kursaal Conference Centre, Donostia / San Sebastián.

Transport: Free buses will be available for travel between venues, except for Donostia / San Sebastián.

Limited spots available. To take part, please complete the registration form; confirmation of your attendance will be sent by email.

Translation. All tours will include Spanish-English interpretation, if required.

Amurrio: Theatre and the Council of Senior Citizens.

• Total population: 10.442 inhabitants
• Percentage of people aged 65 and over: 27,7%

Visit hosts: The visit will be led by representatives from Amurrio Town Council (including the Mayor’s Office and the municipal technical team supporting the Council of Senior Citizens), alongside older people who play an active role in the Council.

The visit offers an intimate experience to discover how the participation of older people can become a driving force for community life. Through a theatrical performance featuring older people who are members of the Amurrio Council of Senior Citizens, attendees will be able to gain a first-hand insight into their stories and concerns, demonstrating the potential of art as a tool for expression, cohesion and collective reflection.

The event is rounded off with a video presentation explaining how the Council of Senior Citizens works – a forum through which initiatives are promoted and their active role in local life is strengthened. 

Azkoitia: “Pasira” - Healthy walk

• Total population: 12.084 inhabitants
• Percentage of people aged 65 and over: 20,9%

Visit hosts: The visit will be attended by representatives from Azkoitia Town Council (Department of Social Services, Culture and Youth) alongside representatives from the Azkoitia Lagunkoia Development Group.

During the visit, participants will have the opportunity to learn about the “Pasira” initiative, an intergenerational walking group recognised as a best practice within the Euskadi Lagunkoia Berria network, involving young people from the vocational training college and older residents of the municipality. This initiative promotes healthy lifestyles, interaction and mutual support between generations, and the active participation of older people in community life.

The tour, which has been specially tailored for this visit, will offer a hands-on experience of the walk and, along the way, will provide an opportunity to learn about various municipal initiatives and senior-friendly measures implemented in Azkoitia as part of the programme. The visit will conclude with an informal get-together where participants can meet and chat.

Barakaldo: Campaign against ageism.

• Total population: 100.200 inhabitants
• Percentage of people aged 65 and over: 24,5%

Visit hosts: The visit will be attended by representatives from Barakaldo Town Council (including the Mayor’s Office and the municipal technical team supporting the project), along with older people who are members of the Barakaldo Lagunkoia Development Group.

During the visit, participants will have the opportunity to learn about the Barakaldo Lagunkoia project and, in particular, the campaign against ageism (“My age does not define me”) launched by the group in recent years, which seeks, through participatory and intergenerational means, to raise public awareness and combat age-related stereotypes.

The visit will combine a contextual presentation of the project with a representative sample of the campaign, offering the chance to view a visual exhibition featuring totems with images and messages, providing space for reflection. In addition, an excerpt from the play created by older people and young people will be shown, depicting everyday situations of age discrimination.

The event will conclude with an informal gathering and discussion, encouraging dialogue between participants and the project team.

Bilbao: Aukeragune y Zorroza Lagunkoia.

• Total population: 346.933 inhabitants
• Percentage of people aged 65 and over: 25,4%

Visit hosts: The visit will be attended by representatives from Bilbao City Council and the team responsible for the Bilbao Age Friendly City Plan. 

During the visit, participants will have the opportunity to visit the Aukeragune centre, an innovative initiative aimed at supporting older people who are frail or living in isolation. The programme is designed to provide direct support to 80 people, and it is anticipated that it could eventually reach over 2,000 older people in the neighbourhoods surrounding Otxarkoaga, such as Txurdinaga, Santutxu, Begoña, Bolueta, Uribarri and Zurbarán.

The aim at Aukeragune is for people to reconnect with life and rebuild personal relationships. In this way, they can continue to participate in civic life and contribute to the well-being of the community. Preventing frailty is one of the ways to promote and preserve people’s independence.

The participatory initiative “Zorrotza Lagunkoia” will also be presented, as part of the Bilbao Age-Friendly City Plan. This pilot project, launched in 2022, aims to promote the active participation of older people by creating inclusive, intergenerational community activities that have an impact on the neighbourhood.

Donostia - San Sebastián

• The two visits will take place separately.
• Total population: 189.866 inhabitants
• Percentage of people aged 65 and over: 25%

Institute of Health Research, BioGipuzkoa 

• Visit schedule: 10:00-11:30

Visit hosts: The visit will be attended by representatives from BioGipuzkoa. 

BioGipuzkoa, the Gipuzkoa Institute of Health Research, is a leading centre for biomedical and health research linked to the Basque health system. The visit will provide an insight into some of the research lines related to ageing currently being developed by the institute, as well as how they incorporate the citizen science dimension into their projects. It will be an opportunity to share lessons learnt, challenges and connections between research, ageing and citizen participation.

Lifelong homes, Lugaritz

• Visit schedule: 12:00-13:30

Visit hosts: The tour will be led by residents of Lugariz. 

The tour of the homes in Lugariz will be led by the residents themselves, who will share first-hand accounts of their daily lives within this innovative project. Throughout the tour, they will explain how these two- or three-bedroom rental properties, designed for couples or families, enable them to continue living their lives in a homely, accessible environment that is connected to the community. Residents will show both the private spaces, designed for privacy and personal well-being, and the communal areas, which are key to participation, socialising and building neighbourly relationships, highlighting the support provided by the designated support worker, the personalised management of support services and the integration of community services that make Lugaritz a genuine and flexible alternative to traditional residential models.

Vitoria-Gasteiz: BIZAN: Participatory model for senior centers

• Total population: 253.956 inhabitants
• Percentage of people aged 65 and over: 23,2%

Visit hosts: The visit will be led by representatives from Vitoria-Gasteiz City Council (through the Municipal Service for Older People), alongside older people who are actively involved in the “Activa tu Barrio” (Get your neighbourhood moving) programme.

The visit to Vitoria-Gasteiz offers the opportunity to see first-hand the model of the BIZAN senior centres, a well-established initiative that places older people at the heart of community life. Throughout the tour, the process of transformation of these centres will be showcased; they have evolved towards a participatory approach in which older people not only take part, but also make decisions and lead initiatives through a committee-based model. The visit will allow participants to explore the spaces and understand how this approach translates into real day-to-day dynamics. 

The “Activa tu barrio” (Get your neighbourhood moving) programme will also be presented, in which older people themselves drive initiatives that address needs identified in their local area. The experience is rounded off with an overview of how BIZAN fits into the care system, highlighting its role as a key resource for promoting independence, participation and well-being.