‘You cannot be a smart city if you are not an age-friendly city’ states AGE Secretary-General, Anne-Sophie Parent, at the conference ‘Inclusive Smart Cities: A European Manifesto on Citizen Engagement’, on 23 November 2016 in Brussels.
The conference showcased practical tools for citizens’ involvement, policy and regulation and launched the Manifesto on Inclusive Smart Cities, endorsed by AGE Platform Europe together with about 90 supporters worldwide. The supporters of the Manifesto commit to creating and fostering accessible urban services for all citizens while promoting engagement of citizens and communities in the design and co-creation of solutions.
Invited to share AGE policy and project experience on how to build smart and age-friendly cities, Mrs Parent provided a few examples of good practices across EU countries and introduced the principle of co-creation promoted by the Mobile Age project, which develops mobile open government services together with senior citizens. She also presented the activities of the Covenant on Demographic Change gathering public authorities, civil society organisations, universities, research centres and businesses willing to promote and implement age-friendly initiatives.