Innovation and Opportunity in an Ageing Society0

Last week we went to a really interesting discussion about the opportunities of an ageing society. There were participants from 6 cities including London, Lisbon, Vancouver, Washington DC, Toronto and Paris.





In Europe, the statistics are staggering - by 2020, 25% of the population will be over 60 and the 80+ population is expected to double before 2050. There will then be a ratio of 2:1 of workers to retirees. Many people focus on the inevitable rise is costs linked to pensions, social security, health and long term care.

But our changing demographic is also a significant opportunity. it will be a source of jobs (and growth); and a source of innovation - there are already numerous organisations experimenting with new models of eldercare and mutual support. One of these kinds of organisations is Participle which together with members of the local community, developed the Southwark Circle. And this is what the participants of last week's meeting where talking about - the importance of doing 'with' rather than 'to' or 'for'.  The participants are meeting again in Paris in May. For more information on the event see here.