Summary
On January 19th the City of Brampton hosted an Age-Friendly Forum inviting residents to join the conversation of how to make Brampton a better place to live at all stages of life. As part of the City of Brampton’s ongoing work to develop an age-friendly strategy, the forum aimed to engage residents, City Staff and external organizations on how Brampton aims to become an age-friendly city. Kicking off the forum was Gil Penalosa, founder of internationally recognized non-profit organization 8 80 City. The organization was created based on a simple, powerful philosophy that a city built for an eight-year-old and an 80-year-old will create a successful city for all people. Penalosa stressed the importance of education among older people, and removing barriers and encouraging active, healthy urban design to support aging populations. A presentation by the local police department was also conducted which educated older people about Cybersecurity.
The event was delivered through the collaborative efforts of the City of Brampton and a local post-secondary college (Sheridan), in particular, the Social Service Worker – Gerontology Program, tying together the importance of educational and institutional partnerships. Student volunteers helped with event delivery via marketing, facilitating an employment information table and providing assistance to senior residents. Volunteers also facilitated a Hindi language information table, showing cross-cultural collaboration, and a ‘World Café’ with youth attendee`s – a facilitated seminar discussing issues impacting youth in cities and the importance of building age-friendly environments.
The forum highlighted the breadth of existing work which assists older people and supports the directives of the age-friendly strategy.
Website: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dbTs8Dgay3Y&feature=emb_title
Key facts
Main target group: Older people in general
Other target group(s): Youth, Hindi-speaking residents
Sector(s): Health, Information and communication, Social protection
Desired outcome for older people:
Meet their basic needs
- Ageing in place
- Intergenerational activities
- Inclusion
- Participation