On Thursday, 9 July 2026, Lord Mayor Dr Stephan Keller received the official certificate marking D\u00fcsseldorf\u2019s membership of the WHO network. The certificate was presented by Dr Heidrun Mollenkopf and Ina Voelcker from the German National Association of Senior Citizens\u2019 Organisations (BAGSO). Both had served as ambassadors for the Third WHO World Congress on Age-friendly Cities and Communities, held in San Sebasti\u00e1n in June.<\/p>\n
Lord Mayor Dr Stephan Keller said: \u201cJoining the global WHO network is a significant milestone for D\u00fcsseldorf. Our city is growing while, at the same time, its population is ageing. We are actively shaping this demographic change to ensure that people can live independently and participate fully in society as they grow older. Exchanging ideas with cities around the world helps us further develop successful approaches while also showcasing D\u00fcsseldorf\u2019s strengths internationally.\u201d<\/p>\n
City Director Burkhard Hintzsche added: \u201cFor many years, D\u00fcsseldorf has been committed to creating a city where people of all generations can enjoy a high quality of life and play an active role in society. Around one quarter of our population of just under 660,000 is aged 60 or over \u2013 and this proportion continues to grow. Through our membership of the WHO network, we are further strengthening our commitment to an age-friendly and accessible city. Established services such as the city\u2019s 32 zentren plus<\/em> community centres are continuously being developed while also gaining greater international visibility.\u201d<\/p>\n Through the official presentation of the membership certificate, the City of D\u00fcsseldorf aims to raise public awareness of the objectives of the WHO network and of the city\u2019s activities within the framework of the Age-friendly Cities and Communities initiative. At the same time, the event is intended to strengthen dialogue and cooperation with the many stakeholders who help shape urban life. These include residents, elected representatives, the city administration, welfare organisations, and other institutions and organisations.<\/p>\n Following the certificate presentation, representatives of these groups took part in a professional exchange focusing on the opportunities and challenges of age-friendly urban development and on future cooperation within the WHO network.<\/p>\n Participants of the professional exchange. Copyright: Stadt D\u00fcsseldorf\/Claus Langer<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Since January 2026, the City of D\u00fcsseldorf has been a member of the World Health Organization\u2019s (WHO) Global Network for Age-friendly Cities and Communities.<\/p>\n In June, staff from the city administration attended the Third WHO World Congress on Age-friendly Cities and Communities in San Sebasti\u00e1n. They contributed to a workshop entitled From Interest to Implementation: Advancing Age-Friendly Cities and Communities at National Level and gained valuable ideas and insights to support the further development of an age-friendly city in D\u00fcsseldorf.<\/p>\n On Thursday, 9 July 2026, Lord Mayor Dr Stephan Keller received the official certificate marking D\u00fcsseldorf\u2019s membership of the WHO network. The certificate was presented by Dr Heidrun Mollenkopf and Ina Voelcker from the German National Association of Senior Citizens\u2019 Organisations (BAGSO). Both had served as ambassadors for the Third WHO World Congress on Age-friendly Cities and Communities, held in San Sebasti\u00e1n in June.<\/p>\n Lord Mayor Dr Stephan Keller said: \u201cJoining the global WHO network is a significant milestone for D\u00fcsseldorf. Our city is growing while, at the same time, its population is ageing. We are actively shaping this demographic change to ensure that people can live independently and participate fully in society as they grow older. Exchanging ideas with cities around the world helps us further develop successful approaches while also showcasing D\u00fcsseldorf\u2019s strengths internationally.\u201d<\/p>\n City Director Burkhard Hintzsche added: \u201cFor many years, D\u00fcsseldorf has been committed to creating a city where people of all generations can enjoy a high quality of life and play an active role in society. Around one quarter of our population of just under 660,000 is aged 60 or over \u2013 and this proportion continues to grow. Through our membership of the WHO network, we are further strengthening our commitment to an age-friendly and accessible city.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2202,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_bbp_topic_count":0,"_bbp_reply_count":0,"_bbp_total_topic_count":0,"_bbp_total_reply_count":0,"_bbp_voice_count":0,"_bbp_anonymous_reply_count":0,"_bbp_topic_count_hidden":0,"_bbp_reply_count_hidden":0,"_bbp_forum_subforum_count":0},"categories":[550],"tags":[],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/extranet.who.int\/agefriendlyworld\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48593"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/extranet.who.int\/agefriendlyworld\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/extranet.who.int\/agefriendlyworld\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/extranet.who.int\/agefriendlyworld\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2202"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/extranet.who.int\/agefriendlyworld\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=48593"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/extranet.who.int\/agefriendlyworld\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48593\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":48598,"href":"https:\/\/extranet.who.int\/agefriendlyworld\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48593\/revisions\/48598"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/extranet.who.int\/agefriendlyworld\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=48593"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/extranet.who.int\/agefriendlyworld\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=48593"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/extranet.who.int\/agefriendlyworld\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=48593"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"Participants](\"https:\/\/extranet.who.int\/agefriendlyworld\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/D1C02024-300x200.jpg\")