The Réseau Wallon de Développement Rural dedicated 2 intensive days (17-18 May 2018) to innovative approaches and methodologies, during which two European projects were presented by AGE Platform Europe. Tourinnes-La-Grosse, a village in the middle of the countryside of Wallonia (Belgium) has been at the center of vivid exchanges of perspectives around innovation and how to stimulate innovation in rural areas.
The Horizon 2020 MobileAge project highlighted the benefits and challenges of the co-creation approach, which is at the heart of the project. In MobileAge, co-creating with seniors has allowed the delivery of mobile apps for older people: such apps have been thought, designed, and implemented directly with the final beneficiaries with the objective to help them move around, participate in events, be more socially included and improve their health. Besides, the project will soon issue guidelines on co-creation, and an on-line platform to support the co-creation process, alongside with another on-line platform for developers. Most importantly, policy recommendations addressed to local authorities and decision-makers will be disseminated in the autumn, as well as presented in the project’s final event (Brussels, 9 October 2018).
An overview of the presentations is available here, on the website of the Réseau PWDR (Réseau Wallon du Développement Durable).