The city of Porto is aging rapidly and in 2021, according to official data, we reached an aging index of 220, much higher than the national average of 182.

In the last decade, despite a slight decrease in the general population in the city, the age group over 65 has increased by more than 9%, and of these, we also saw a significant increase in single-family households. Aware of this phenomenon, the city of Porto joined the global network of  Age-Friendly cities and since then has been developing networking so that it can, very soon, present its Action Plan. The Action Plan “Porto Age Friendly City” is based on a broad concern for the well-being and quality of life of elderly people living in the municipality of Porto, especially those who live more isolated and/or with particular needs due to constraints of various kinds, resulting from advancing age. As a guiding guide, will be given preference to the mapping adopted in the Report of the 2nd World Health Organization Global Forum on Innovation for Aging Populations, namely with regard to the five areas of intervention to respond to the challenges of population aging: the 5 P’s – People, Place, Products, Person centered services, Policy. This Plan is in the preparation phase and aims to be publicly presented next November. It should be noted that the basis for building this structuring instrument for effective transformation is the involvement of all organizations in the city whose mission is to work with elderly people, namely those that represent this specific target audience. The aim is to get together the collective ambition for transformation in a single document that will be monitored by the municipality and evaluated by all stakeholders at the end of its implementation. The municipality intends to be an aggregating force in the city for this transformation. In this way, the aim, in addition to the development and dissemination of ongoing projects to combat the risk of isolation and social protection, is to increase measures that encourage seniors to be protagonists of an active life and positive and healthy aging. To better streamline municipal intervention, within the scope of this aim, integrated into the latest change to the macrostructure, an organic unit was created whose mission is to intervene with the senior and elderly population specifically in close relationship with the Porto Social Network, which today has the participation of 296 public and private entities. Of these, 64 entities are part of the Operational Unit for Intervention with elderly people, which reveals a critical mass of excellence for implementing initiatives to promote successful aging.

On the other hand, a special focus has been given to the development and promotion of projects that promote the collaborative experimentation of new solutions to aging issues, through the CIS Porto (Porto Social Innovation Center). The aim is to mobilize and involve all sectors of society towards a systemic approach to the city’s social problems that allows for more efficient, effective and sustainable responses and generates a virtuous circle of collective learning. Being aware that we are on the right path, we are following the journey. And the municipality is not taking this journey alone. It is working with all entities in the city’s social network, entrepreneurs, academic research centers, companies, individual citizens and, of course, with the elderly themselves.