Overview
The mission of Innovage was to concentrate the highest possible quality of scientific expertise, together with stakeholders from all relevant fields (policy, practice, product development) and the active participation of older people, to produce and identify major innovative approaches to better quality of life and wellbeing as people age.
Specific objectives
To develop, implement and evaluate four potentially cost-effective social innovations focussed on the main topics of the present Call: social innovation, wellbeing and quality of life, and healthy life years (HLE).
To create a brand new social innovation web-based platform, consisting of model, state-of-the-art, innovations from anywhere in the world that have been evaluated to have real potential to contribute to extending HLE.
To tackle head-on the critical barriers to the implementation of social innovations in this field by drawing on state-of-the-art research and experience in SI development and by adopting a novel approach based on the exploitation of recent technologies for addressing users’ needs in an optimal way.
To emphasise knowledge exchanges and implementation especially in the new member states (NMS). The tools for implementation recognised the very unequal experience of HLE across Europe and sought to prioritise the NMS and especially those in Central and Eastern Europe.
Main activities
Four social innovations in the fields of housing (Sweden, Latvia, Italy and Germany), carers (Italy), obesity (UK), long-term care (Germany).
One hundred and fifty exemplars of social innovations designed to extend HLE and/or improve later life wellbeing.
A web portal ‘The European Social Innovations for Healthy Life Expectancy’ resource, supported by a touch-phone/tablet application.
A stakeholder panel.
Three meetings of the Innovage European Forum on Social Innovations for Healthy and Active Life Expectancy.
Development of formal guidelines for the involvement of older people in the development of relevant social innovations.
European conference for social innovations and active and healthy ageing.