The Forum Executive Summary is finally released!
The AAL Forum took place in Bilbao, Biscay, in the heart of the Basque Country, Spain on 24-26 September. Biscay has one of the oldest societies in the world and has become one of Southern Europe’s promote figures in developing, testing, validating and manufacturing innovative products and services for ageing well. Hosted by Biscay Country Council and taking place at the Euskalduna Conference Centre just down the river from the world-famous and strikingly beautiful Guggenheim Museum, the event welcomed more than 500 delegates to take part in exciting talks, interactive workshops, a buzzing exhibition with new technological advances, poster sessions, a matchmaking event and many other opportunities for delegates to immerse themselves in a world of active and healthy ageing in Europe.
The forum was also abuzz with the prospect of AAL after 2020, of how AAL would look beyond the decade and how it will go about changing and adapting its approach for future success. Similar to the notion of change through design, workshops focused on the need for collaboration and more awareness and understanding by all sectors and ages in society, countries and ecosystems of active and healthy ageing. The plenary sessions explored these ideas in greater detail welcoming stakeholders from European, national, regional and local areas to offer their opinions on what it will take to be AAL beyond 2020 and to consider the mechanisms that need to be implemented for AAL products and services to truly take off in the near future.