Ageing Better By Design - Activation, Co-Production and Social Inclusion of Older People

Emphasizing the multidimensional activity of older people becomes dominant in the creating a broad vision of the role and participation of aging members of society in shaping the social reality. This is reflected in the development of the concepts which refer to the direct use of the potential of seniors by stimulating their productivity and encouraging co-production. Therefore, the elderly are treated as consumers or beneficiaries of services and as active providers of them.
The development of the social productivity of older people depends not only on their resources and readiness to undertake this type of activity. It is equally conditioned by the appropriate attitude of the rest of society. One good example is the field of service design based on user co-production. This practice emphasizes that the most crucial thing in the design of services is the participation and involvement of participants. Thus, the popularity of methods combining knowledge in the field of social sciences (especially sociology) with design is becoming more and more visible. Our goal is to propose an interdisciplinary discussion on the responsible design of services addressed to the needs of older people. By combining sociological knowledge with the world of design, we are waiting for examples inspired by fields of reflection within theoretical and practical references. Therefore, the proposed session is open to dialogue, inviting specialists representing other disciplines with different research and implementation experience.