O-STA

SI4CARE project launches the Competence Center for Social Innovations for Active and Healthy Ageing

The University of Ljubljana, supported by the SI4CARE project partners, launches a permanent Competence Center for Social Innovations for Active and Healthy Ageing fostering commitment to find and provide new solutions and modern concepts for active and healthy ageing across the ADRION regions.

Ljubljana, Slovenia (November xx, 2022) - The SI4CARE project, led by the University of Ljubljana, laid the foundation for the creation of the Competence Center for Social Innovations for Active and Healthy Ageing which aims to connect research institutions, municipalities, ministries, voluntary organizations and other interested stakeholders to cooperate in realizing its mission of finding and providing new solutions and modern concepts for active and healthy ageing, promoting social innovations, a positive attitude and a future of solidarity for all generations, with a special emphasis on vulnerable groups, including the elderly population.

The decision to create the Competence Centre was taken by the SI4CARE partnership in June 2022 during a project event held in Athens. In September 2022, the creation of the Competence Centre was then officially decreed by the Academic Senate of the University of Ljubljana, where the Centre will be based. Its establishment represents the realization of the formal commitment of the SI4CARE project to European authorities and it will take care of the promotion and upgrading of the SI4CARE results and the continuation of the functioning of the international ecosystem after the end of the project. More in detail, activities of the Competence Center include organization of meetings and workshops, professional support in training and education of the elderly to increase their digital literacy and will be aimed at general international exchange of knowledge between involved stakeholders that deal with the field of active and healthy ageing, through its annual conference with representatives from various organizations from the ADRION region. The first annual conference will take place in spring 2023 in Ljubljana at the final event of the SI4CARE project.

Managed by an Expert Committee, the Competence Centre will thus encourage an active, strategic approach to the field of social development and investment in it, which requires the attention and cooperation of all key stakeholders in the field of active and healthy ageing. Within this framework, key challenges will be tackled, especially regarding the above average rapid growth of the share of the ageing population and the need for digital transformation of integrated long-term care.

Indeed, as pointed out by Siette J. et al., the provision of adequate healthcare services for an ever increasing number of ageing people is now a crucial question, and one of the answers, given the technological advancement, is the ambient assisted living technologies and intelligence. "Social Innovation plays an important role here. If applied to a healthcare system, it creates social value with effective impacts on society, aggregating needs & interests, increasing civic participation and strengthening social cohesion", says SI4CARE project leader and head of the Competence Centre Prof. Vlado Dimovski from the Faculty of Economics of the University of Ljubljana. The SI4CARE project addresses this shared challenge by contributing to the development of an effective transnational ecosystem for the application of Social Innovation in integrated healthcare services for the elderly. The Competence Center for Social Innovations for Active and Healthy Ageing will therefore fit in this framework building on project achievements, ensuring the implementation and continuity of SI4CARE Integrated Healthcare model and facilitating its upscale to further regions.

ABOUT SI4CARE:

Led by the University of Ljubljana, the SI4CARE project (Social Innovation for integrated health CARE of ageing population in ADRION Region) started in December 2020 and will come to an end in May 2023, involving 10 partners from Slovenia, Italy, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia and Greece. It is supported by the Interreg ADRION Programme and is co-financed by the ERDF and IPAII Fund for a total amount of 2.3 M €.

More information & contacts:

SI4CARE website: Social Innovation for integrated health CARE of ageing population in ADRION Region - SI4CARE (adrioninterreg.eu)

SI4CARE social media:

Darja Semrov - SI4CARE project manager: darja.semrov@fgg.uni-lj.si

Simon Colnar - SI4CARE communication manager: simon.colnar@ef.uni-lj.si