2024 will be the year when Europe will count more people aged over 65 years than those younger than 15 years, and most Council of Europe member states are affected by this trend. These demographic changes are not without consequences, in particular for local and regional authorities, who face a growing need for the creation of more accessible public spaces, for more elaborate social services and for active ageing policies. To ensure older people's autonomy and quality of life in this context, multidimensional and multilevel responses are needed.
This was the conclusion of a Congress report presented by co-rapporteurs Carla Dejonghe (Belgium, ILDG) and Joanne Laban (United Kingdom, ECR) at a debate on "ageing communities" held during the 47th Session of the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities on 16 October 2024.
The report called for investing in older people's autonomy at the level of local communities, fostering volunteering work and community-based initiatives and improving the working conditions and skills of formal and informal carers, often women. National governments were invited to develop specific support programmes for local and regional authorities, which are often responsible for providing, commissioning or overseeing long-term care services. Governments were also asked to provide sufficient funding for such systems, including through equalisation funds aimed at overcoming territorial gaps, and to foster a favourable national context for working in the care sector.
The co-rapporteurs underlined the importance of engaging older people themselves in improving the design of services for their generation and in making use of innovative measures, such as IT-based solutions, to preserve their independence.
A guest speaker in the debate, Mayor of Porto (Portugal) Rui Moreira presented his city's commitment for the development of more age-friendly communities and the numerous initiatives taken by Porto in recent years as a member city of the WHO Global Network for Age-friendly Cities and Communities, encouraging Congress members to join this global movement.
Mediabox Interview with Carla Dejonghe & Joanne Laban
