A new opportunity to build leaders for the next decade of age-friendly cities and communities.

The WHO Global Network for Age-friendly Cities and Communities now connects over 1300 members across 51 countries with the common vision of making communities great places to grow older. Leveraging the Network's extensive experience in making cities and communities increasingly age-friendly, WHO with support from the International Federation on Ageing established the Age-friendly Environments Mentoring Programme (MENTOR-AFE) to promote mutual learning and capacity building.

To better respond to rapidly growing interest in age-friendly communities both within and beyond the Network, a new learning opportunity within MENTOR-AFE is now open for registrations: the Age-friendly Environments ECHO (AFE ECHO).

For more information, please contact gnafcc@who.int.

What is the AFE ECHO?

The AFE ECHO is an innovative, multi-session learning opportunity aimed at city and community leaders that want to learn how to identify and address barriers to the well-being and participation of older people so that they can help transform their communities to be better places to live and age.

AFE ECHO is aligned with the latest approaches and guidance from WHO on age-friendly cities and communities. The programme provides a safe environment where participants can share knowledge and learn from experts and other learners through collaborative problem-solving, to gain the skills necessary to advocate and drive the age-friendly model within their own city and/or community.

What are the key features of the AFE ECHO?

1. People attending the AFE ECHO do not need to have prior knowledge on how to create age-friendly environments, but they must be in a position to influence the development of age-friendly communities.

2. The learning cycle is composed of 5 one-hour sessions (09:00 to 10:00 Eastern Time Zone).

3. Sessions take place every 2 weeks over a 3-month period from 10 February to 7 April 2022.

4. Sessions are held in English.

5. Participants are expected to attend all 5 sessions, as the experience and knowledge is cumulative.

6. Participants do not need to be from a member city or community of the WHO Global Network for Age-friendly Cities and Communities. Emerging and future leaders are welcome from all WHO Member States.

7. There is no cost to participate and all sessions are hosted using Zoom video conferencing.

What will I learn through the AFE ECHO?

Session 1 | The Age-friendly Journey: An Introduction | 10 February 2022

Learning Objectives:

Improve understanding of the importance of age-friendly environments in the context of a life-course approach to healthy ageing and in response to key megatrends – urbanization and demographic change.

Understand the history and key features of the WHO Age-friendly Communities Framework and programme cycle.

Understand what an age-friendly community can achieve.

Session 2 | Engage and Understand | 24 February 2022

Learning Objectives:

Describe mechanisms to build a network of stakeholders.

Describe steps to identify the needs of the older population.

Understand the steps needed to analyze the challenges and opportunities in a community and define priorities for action.

Describe strategies used to influence and inform the political commitment for age-friendly initiatives.

Describe what successful engagement looks like and the anticipated outputs.

Session 3 | Plan Strategically | 10 March 2022

Learning Objectives:

Describe the purpose, process and key success factors in delivering an age-friendly strategy and action plan.

Describe the steps needed to develop a comprehensive strategic plan.

Understand the importance of defining common objectives, aims, targets and stakeholder responsibilities.

Identify strategies for securing support and resources.

Session 4 | Act and Implement | 24 March 2022

Learning Objectives:

Understand the importance of consulting on the action plan and involving older people at all stages.

Describe the process for designing a successful action plan.

Understand the steps needed to implement an action plan and scale up successful action.

Understand the importance of learning from successful action in local, national and international networks.

Session 5 | Monitor and Evaluate Progress | 7 April 2022

Learning Objectives:

Describe the steps needed to monitor processes continually.

Understand the principles needed to undertake both outcome and impact evaluations.

Describe strategies for sustaining and improving action informed by evidence.

Age-friendly World is a World Health Organization website dedicated to promoting age-friendliness around the world. The World Health Organization Global Network for Age-friendly Cities and Communities (GNAFCC) is a global coalition of cities and communities committed to becoming more age-friendly. 

Submit your news on Age-friendly World or get in touch with us at gnafcc@who.int.