Volgograd joined the Global Network of Age-friendly Cities and Communities in 2012 as part of its commitment to building an inclusive environment for elderly residents. Over the years, Volgograd has carried out the following initiatives to better support seniors:

• In 2008, a club for seniors was founded. The club has eight branches employing 40 people on a permanent basis, of which 31 are pensioners. These employees generate ideas and act as links between the municipality and the elderly population. The municipality provided each district branch with a premise and a microbus, and covered the costs for their maintenance. Annually the municipality invests 7.7 million rubles (US$258,600) in the club. The key activities of the club are the provision of leisure activities for seniors, the development of intergenerational solidarity, programmes to improve the mobility of seniors and providing information and support to seniors.

• In addition, in 2014, the municipality adopted a three-year programme to develop the city’s infrastructure for better senior-friendliness. The programme is financed by the city budget and includes the installation of hand-rails, ramps, sound signals, signs with Braille script at the entrances of the administrative buildings, traffic lights with audio features, fitting of the parking places for disabled people, the adaptation of the official website of Volgograd municipality for visually-disabled people, and the dubbing of the text from the news of municipal television for people with hearing disabilities.