+++ The European Silver Economy Newsletter, Issue 4, January 2007 ++ Issue 4: Contents. ++ Editorial: A valuable chance for international cooperation - Lower Silesia joins the SEN@ER. ++ Section One: The Silver Economy on the European Commission Policy Agenda. +01: 'Regions for economic change - Regional Policy responses to demographic challenges' - a European Commission - Regional Policy Directorate-General event. - Statements and opinions on the Silver Economy from the Conference. +02: The Silver Economy has successfully found its way into European policy and funding programmes at different levels. ++ Section Two: Reports from the SEN@ER Regions. +03: A vibrant region: Yorkshire & Humber region joins the SEN@ER. +04: New to the EU and new to SEN@ER: The city of Sofia joins the network. +05: Lower Silesian Council of Senior's Affairs established. +06: Silver Economy in Lower Saxony (Germany) - Landesinitiative Niedersachsen "Generationsgerechter Alltag" (LINGA). +07: Scotland: International Conference on Learning in Later Life / May 2007. +08: Extremadura. European Research and Mobility Grants Announced. ++ Section Three: Another success story - The 2nd European Silver Economy Conference 2006. ++ Section Four: To be continued - The 3rd European Silver Economy Conference 2007. ++ Section Five: Reports from the SEN@ER Network and the SEN@ER Secretariat. +09: "First Forum on Europe's Demographic Future" held by the European Commission on 30 - 31 October 2006 in Brussels. +10: European Commission Communication: "The demographic future of Europe - from challenge to opportunity" addresses the Silver Economy. +11: "MobilAlarm - a location-independent mobile alarm service" is another example of a successful European project with SEN@ER participation. ++ Section Six: European Union. +12: First Call for proposals for the 7th Framework Programme launched by the European Commission. +13: The new INTERREG IVC programme will be larger in scope, covering the whole of Europe and with many more regions cooperating together, and have a stronger focus on the Lisbon objectives. +14: Economic Growth and Jobs: Study on the European Economy of Culture by the European Commission. +15: CIP - Services in support of business and innovation. +16: Fact File on Europe's Demographic Future. +17: EURO 7 billion for lifelong learning. +18: User Needs in ICT Research for Independent Living, with a Focus on Health Aspects. +19: "Regions for Economic Change" - European Commission strengthens exchange of best practices in innovation among European regions. +20: European Foundation looks at age and employment. ++ Section Seven: Conferences, Projects, Miscellaneous. +21: European Conference: Regions for Economic Change - Fostering Competitiveness Through Innovative Technologies , Products and Healthy Communities, 7 - 8 March 2007, Brussels. +22: Towards an Inclusive Future - COST219ter conference on eAccessibility and next generation networks. +23: European Information Society Conference - EISCO 2007 in Hmeenlinna, Finland, 16 - 18 April 2007. +24: Study "The New Member States and the Dependent Elderly". +25: "Regional Policy Responses to Demographic Challenges" conference brochure. +26: Personal Health Systems 2007. +27: Experience is the future - German initiative on the opportunities of the demographic change. +28: Conference "Confronting demographic change: a new solidarity between the generations". +29: Equality Summit German Presidency 2007. +30: "User Orientation of Public Online Services": online knowledge base available. +31: Labour agreement "Demographic Change" in German steel industry. ++ End Notes. +32: Contact. +33: Disclaimer. +34: Copyright notice. +35: TEN Standard. [Contents ends]. ++ Editorial: A valuable chance for international cooperation - Lower Silesia joins the SEN@ER. Ladies and Gentlemen, In Poland, as well as in other European countries, we are observing the process of aging society: The number of persons over 60 is increasing. The problem concerns also Lower Silesia. According to the data published in Statistical Bulletin of the Lower Silesian Voivodeship's Health Care, there were more than 12% inhabitants over 65 years old in our region in the year 2000. It is forecasted that by the year 2030 this percentage will have risen almost twice and will have exceeded 22%. Essential element of pro-health activities of Lower Silesian Self-Government is consolidation of groups of interest around issues regarding elderly people as well as initiating and co-ordinating activities aiming at changes for better in status of seniors in Lower Silesia. As the first region in Poland, we have brought into being Lower Silesian Council of Seniors' Affairs. Its task, among others, is a diagnosis of problems of elderly inhabitants of Lower-Silesia, both health and economic, as well as social-cultural. We have invited representatives of the regional authorities, National Health Fund, colleges and universities in Wroc?aw. Third Age University, Lower Silesian Social Assistance Centre, Polish Association of Pensioners and Disabled as well as "Now Life" Foundation to participate in the Lower Silesian Council. What is important, the composition of the Council is still open. We wish that such a wide body would guarantee possibly comprehensive attitude towards this complex question. We have to make authorities and local communities aware of these problems, since the issues are still frequently treated in a marginal way. Our intention is to promote activities aiming at elicitation and improvement quality of life of elderly people. The rising proportion of elderly people means on one hand unfavourable demographic changes, but on the other hand wider and wider group of people with a rich life and professional experience, which may and should be brought into play. The activation of this group is fruitful both to themselves and to the rest of the society. The SEN@ER - Silver Economy Network of European Regions for Lower Silesia - is a valuable chance of international cooperation concerning issues of the society aging. Exchange of experiences with European regions in this field creates an opportunity for applying solutions developed in different parts of our continent, as well as for presenting our own achievements. Ladies and Gentlemen, I wish you a great many of successes. Let your actions be beneficial for all the regions cooperating in the SEN@ER Network. With kind regards, Marek Moszczynski, Deputy Marshal of Lower Silesian Voivodeship. [Editorial ends]. ++ Section One: The Silver Economy on the European Commission Policy Agenda. +01: 'Regions for economic change - Regional Policy responses to demographic challenges' - a European Commission - Regional Policy Directorate-General event. - Statements and opinions on the Silver Economy from the Conference. The event "Regions for economic change" was held in Brussels on 25 and 26 January 2007. It was organised by DG REGIO and supported by further DGs. The call for papers resulted in a very positive response posing the difficult task to the organisers to select presentations which they felt fit most appropriately. The 450 participants mainly came from the EU and candidate countries' national and regional administrations, as well as representatives from EU associations and institutions. The majority of participants were familiar with cohesion policy and the Structural Funds of the EU. The event was organised in different workshops with presentations from practitioners. The role of the practitioners was to present the best practice strategy or project in which they are involved (regional/national perspective). To ensure that their experience can be used elsewhere, they were asked to go beyond a description of their own project and draw out the lessons for other practitioners, including the success factors and the pitfalls to avoid. The need to move away from considering the demographic change as a threat but rather see it as a challenge and an opportunity became apparent throughout the conference and was articulated in the key note speeches of the Commissioners and a large number of speakers in the different workshops: the "Silver economy" topic was recognised and widely acknowledged as an important issue at the conference: - In his keynote speech, Vladimir Spidla, Commissioner for Employment and Social Affairs, emphasised that demographic change as taking place today needs to be looked at as a positive development but also as a challenge in need to be tackled in an appropriate way. He explicitly referred to the "Seniorenwirtschaft" initiative in NRW as a policy example in this area and brought forward the idea of a European regions network for the exchange of experiences and good practice. - Dr. Gerd Harms, Member of the Committee of the Regions (CoR) and Secretary of State of the German region Brandenburg indicated the importance of further developing the Silver Economy in European regions as an important concern of the Committee of the Regions. - In the press briefing Mr Ralf Jacobs from the DG Employment formulated as one of five policy directions for future European policy the promotion of "a more productive and dynamic Europe notably by seizing the opportunities of the ' silver economy '". - The chairmen from the European Commission Frans de Bruine, Director DG INFSO & Media and Jerome Vignon, Director DG EMPL stressed the need to also consider the industrial aspects and to adopt an economic view on to the subject of demographic change and eInclusion. Frans de Bruine also mentioned the forthcoming Communication on "Ageing Well in the Information Society" currently under development by DG INFSO and Media. - The Silver Economy Network of European Regions (SEN@ER) was one of the presentations - presented by Doede Sijtsma from the SEN@ER partner region Gelderland (Netherlands) - of Workshop 3B "Regions and partnerships working together to seize the opportunities presented by demographic challenges" and received a very positive reception. The participants from European regions showed an interest in finding out more about the European network and inquired into the possibilities of their regions to join the network. - Parallel to the conference, the European Commission organised a press briefing which was attended by 23 journalists from many European countries. At this briefing the European Commission presented the current and future programmes and funding mechanisms for regions and DG EMPL formulated the new policy directions including the "promotion of a more productive and dynamic Europe notably by seizing the opportunities of the ' silver economy '". In the SEN@ER presentation by the European SEN@ER Secretariat the point was made for the need and importance of a single point of contact at the EC in order to streamline and bring together the activities relating to the demographic changes, ageing and the silver economy at different DGs and more quickly develop a coordinated European Silver Economy Action Plan to follow on as a next consequent step to the above Communication. In the closing plenary session - Lambert van Nistelrooij, Member of European Parliament and Vice President of the European Parliament's Intergroup on Ageing started his speech with putting the silver economy at the end of a recent development in our economies from what he described as the car economy which was followed by the care economy in the 1990s which then culminated in the silver economy of today. Now - he argued - demographic change has managed to find its place in the core of economic change which he sees as the appropriate place, where it should be and remain for the future. Appropriate policy and funding instruments to further develop, implement and exploit it at a European scale are available. From the point of view of the European Parliament policy simply needs to develop the necessary action programmes. - Danuta Hbner, Commissioner for Regional Policy emphasised the need to create a platform for sharing experiences of good practices at regional level and indicated that the challenges emerging from the demographic changes can be turned into an opportunity. She referred to the Silver Economy Network of European Regions when saying that "the 'silver economy network' showed us the potential for creating new markets, new products and new services". Further details can be obtained from here: http://ec.europa.eu/regional_policy/conferences/demographicchallenge_jan07/home_en.cfm . If you are interested in further information regarding the Silver Economy Network of European Regions please visit our website at: http://www.silvereconomy-europe.org/ . Or contact us: Responsible as SEN@ER lead partner region at the regional government of North Rhine-Westphalia: Ministry of Health, Equalities, Care and Ageing of North Rhine-Westfalia Dr. Claus Eppe Head of Unit Silver Economy, Media Competence Horionplatz 1, D-40213 Dsseldorf Phone: +49 (2 11) 8 618-3320 Fax: +49 (2 11) 8 618-4460 mailto:claus.eppe@mgffi.nrw.de . European SEN@ER Secretariat: Ingo Meyer, Christiane Krupp, Werner B. Korte empirica Gesellschaft fr Kommunikations- und Technologieforschung mbH Oxfordstr. 2, D - 53111 Bonn Phone: +49 (2 28) 9 85 30-0 Fax: +49 (2 28) 9 85 30-12 mailto: info@empirica.com ; http://www.empirica.com/ ; http://www.silvereconomy-europe.org/ . +02: The Silver Economy has successfully found its way into European policy and funding programmes at different levels. The SEN@ER network has been successful in convincing European policy makers in putting the topic of "Ageing" and the "Silver Economy" on the European policy agenda. Lobbying activities by SEN@ER also resulted in the consideration of the topic of "ICT and Ageing" to become a key topic area in the forthcoming Seventh Framework Programme and the CIP Programme, both operated by DG INFSO and Media and running from 2007 - 2013. It is also part of the Commission's i2010 initiative. SEN@ER is now widely recognised as a regional initiative which has successfully managed to become widely recognised in Europe and incorporated and considered in European policies by different DGs. Further details can be obtained from here: i2010: http://ec.europa.eu/information_society/eeurope/i2010/index_en.htm . FP7: http://cordis.europa.eu/en/home.html . CIP: http://ec.europa.eu/enterprise/enterprise_policy/cip/index_en.htm . [Section One ends]. ++ Section Two: Reports from the SEN@ER Regions. +03: A vibrant region: Yorkshire & Humber region joins the SEN@ER. The last few months have seen the SEN@ER grow by three more member regions. In October 2006, the UK region of Yorkshire & Humber has come to our network. In January 2007, both Sofia in Bulgaria and the Polish Opolskie region joined, too. Read below what Yorkshire & Humber region representatives have to say about their region. A short introduction for Sofia is given in section +02 and Opolskie region will present itself in the next issue of this newsletter. Yorkshire and Humber is a northern English region with a population of around 5 million People, and over 250,000 businesses. We are as big as Denmark, Norway or Scotland and have a vibrant and growing 72 billion economy. Our major towns and cities each have their own industrial heritage and identity which pose real opportunities and challenges. The city of Leeds is the largest economic driver, with one of the UK's largest concentrations of financial and business services. Bradford is transforming its city centre, York has a combination of heritage and Science City status, Sheffield has refocused its steel industry, and Hull is building distinctive new buildings, for example The Deep - a futuristic aquarium and education resource. Around 70 languages are spoken in the region, showing that diversity is both a reality and an opportunity. The region's changing demographic profile has important implications for the economy. In two years time we will have more pensioners than children. This means that businesses will have to take more account of them, in terms of their workforce, supply chains and consumer base. The potential of older people - as consumers, workers and entrepreneurs, is important to the region. We face many challenges. A recent report by the Yorkshire and Humber Forum on Ageing shows that by 2021 over 50% of the population in the Yorkshire and Humber region will be over 45. Our older working population (45-64) is expected to increase by 23.1% by 2011, a more rapid growth than the United Kingdom average. As our labour force decreases due to retirement our growing demand for higher level skills will not be met. We are already working towards meeting these challenges. Yorkshire Forward, our Regional Development Agency, has invested in PRIME - a project which works with Age Concern, JobCentre Plus, Information Advice and Guidance services (IAGs), education and other organisations who engage older people or who have a focus on work and training. PRIME is the only national organisation that helps people aged 50 and over to set up in business. Local events to stimulate interest in self-employment, business and social enterprise and encourage contact with business support are run across the region. Participation in the SEN@ER Network will allow us to work closely with and learn from the experiences of other regions. Ultimately we aim contribute knowledge and good practice as well as to benefit from the network's collective growth and learning in relation to the silver economy. More information on Yorkshire Forward is available at: http://www.yorkshire-forward.com . More information on PRIME is available at: http://www.primeinitative.org.uk . +04: New to the EU and new to SEN@ER: The city of Sofia joins the network. The city of Sofia is famous for its old history and culture, strategic geographical location and beautiful and picturesque nature. Founded 7000 years ago, it is one of the oldest cities in Europe. Currently Sofia, situated in the west part of Bulgaria at the foot of the Vitosha Mountain and in the geographical centre of South-Eastern Europe, is multi-ethnical, multi-cultural and multi-religious modern city. With its territory of 1342 km2 and population of 1,282,127 citizens it is a big administrative, economic, academic and research and transport centre. Sofia Municipality has 24 administrative districts each with their own mayors. In terms of social services for elder people the municipality operates five residential homes for the elderly, three houses for temporary accommodation and nine clubs for people with disabilities and pensioners. The municipality also has a structure, called "Social patronage", which assures bringing meals to the elder people at their homes. The main motives of the municipality for joining "SEN@ER" are the desire for cooperation with other European municipalities and regions, exchange of ideas on securing a better living for old people, participation in European projects, use of best practices in the social sphere and joint efforts for solving different social issues. The main objectives for Sofia in relation to the old people are their employment and improvement of quality of life as well as the establishment of alternative services in the community for them and the creation of opportunities for improving professional qualification and life-long learning. Sofia municipality believes that the membership in "SEN@ER" is a step towards reaching these objectives. +05: Lower Silesian Council of Senior's Affairs established. Lower Silesian Council of Senior's Affairs has been called by the Marshall of the Lower Silesia Voivodship to consolidate the activities of public institutions, colleges and NGOs centered on elderly people's affairs. The members are: - Lower Silesia Voivodship's Local Government; - Lower Silesian Governor's Office; - Lower Silesian Public Health Centre; - Lower Silesian Social Politics Centre; - Voivodship Sanitary-Epidemiological Station in Wroc?aw; - National Health Fund - Lower Silesian Division; - Silesian Piasts Wroc?aw Medical University; - Wroclaw University; - University School of Physical Education in Wroc?aw; - Wroc-aw Assembly of Disabled Persons - Polish Union of Retirees, Pensioners and Disabled - District Board - "Now Life" Foundation - Public Fund of Disabled Persons' Rehabilitation - Lower Silesian Division The makeup of the Council remains open. The activity of the Council consists in cooperation, collaboration and experiences exchange pursuing: - recognizing problems related to the aging of society with the aim of preparing a strategy of activities addressed to elderly persons in the voivodship program form; - consolidation communities on understood at large elderly people's issues within the scope of their health, social, life and occupational functions; - making aware both Lower Silesian authorities and society of the problems hitting seniors; - initiating and coordination of actions aiming at improvement of a status of elderly people in Lower Silesia. The Council has prepared a survey which assesses living conditions, state of health and emotional needs of the seniors in Lower Silesia. The pilot poll has been conducted by the students of Wroc?aw University under dr. Walentyna Wnuk's guidance in Radkw commune. The Lower Silesian Council of Seniors' Affairs is an innovative action in Poland. The Council can be an example of collaboration between different entities aiming at promotion of initiatives serving elderly people, e.g. Third Age University, Active Seniors Town. For more information please contact Wojciech Olszewski [mailto:wojciech.olszewski@dolnyslask.pl]; Wydzia Zdrowia; tel. 0-71 7769450, pokj 410; Urz?d Marszalkowski Wojewdztwa Dolnolskiego; Wybrze J.Slowackiego 12-14; 50-411 Wroclaw, Poland; http://www.umwd.pl . +06: Silver Economy in Lower Saxony (Germany) - Landesinitiative Niedersachsen "Generationsgerechter Alltag" (LINGA). The SEN@ER partner region Lower Saxony (Niedersachsen) has started its regional Silver Economy Strategy LINGA on 31 May 2006 in Wolfsburg which was followed by the region joining the SEN@ER network only a few days later on 12 June 2006 (cf. SEN@ER Newsletter No. 3). In the meantime it was presented at several further events ranging from a housing congress developing new perspectives for cities in October 2006 in Hanover to expert workshops and round tables in November 2006 in Hanover and Wolfsburg. More information (in German) is available at: http://www.ms.niedersachsen.de/master/C25353961_N8265_L20_D0_I674.html . +07: Scotland: International Conference on Learning in Later Life / May 2007. The University of Strathclyde, Senior Studies Institute is hosting an international conference on learning in later life from 9th to 11th May 2007 in Glasgow, Scotland. The theme of the conference is 'A Legacy of Learning: sharing global experiences of learning in later life'. The conference will feature international speakers from a wide range of organisations and disciplines, and will focus on the research and experience of those involved in senior's education. This conference will bring together academics, professionals, practitioners and older learners from throughout the world to explore their experience of developing successful models, practices and understanding of core principles of learning in later life. Conference details, the call for papers and booking forms and further details can be found at: http://www.cll.strath.ac.uk/legacy/index.htm . Please contact me if you require further information: Brian McKechnie; University of Strathclyde Senior Studies Institute; 40 George Street Glasgow G1 1QE, Scotland; Tel: 0044 (0)141 548 2492; Fax: 0044 (0)141 553 1270; Email: brian.mckechnie@strath.ac.uk . +08: Extremadura. European Research and Mobility Grants Announced. One SEN@ER partner in Extremadura, the European Academy of Yuste Foundation, announces eleven European research and mobility grants for European Studies 'Charles V European Award 2006 - Helmut Kohl' and its 'IV Summer Doctoral Seminar on contemporary European multidisciplinary studies, with the academic support from the SEGEI (SocioEconomic Governance and European Identity) Research Network, the Jean Monnet Chair of Contemporary European History of the Catholic University of Louvain, and the Triffin Foundation, which will take place at the Royal Monastery of Yuste and Palace of Charles V (Extremadura, Spain) in September 2007. This European grants announcement is addressed to European students working on a Ph. D. Dissertation in history, political sciences, economics, law and other human and social sciences or in other scientific fields, on the relations between Germany and Europe in the 20th century and at present, who have not enjoyed a 'Charles V European Award grant' in the past. These chronological limits can be flexible, providing that the topic refers to a historical factor with a decisive impact to explain a political, economic, scientific, social or cultural process. At the same time, six grants are offered to Yuste Alumni (researchers who participated in previous Yuste doctoral seminars) who wish to present a contribution related to the topics of the 2007 seminar. The European research and mobility grants for European Studies 'Charles V European Award 2006 - Helmut Kohl' of the European Academy of Yuste Foundation are aimed at supporting the necessary research to prepare the contribution to be submitted at the summer doctoral seminar, the researchers' travel to participate in the seminars organised in the framework of the 2007 grants edition, and to publish the final version of their contributions. Candidates should submit their applications from December 15, 2006 to February 18, 2007. More information is available at: http://www.fundacionyuste.org . [Section Two ends]. ++ Section Three: Another success story - The 2nd European Silver Economy Conference 2006. Martin Eurlings concludes at the end of the International Silver Economy Conference: "A silver generation offers 'golden' opportunities for entrepreneurs with a nerve". "The Silver Economy Conference 2006 in Kerkrade has been very useful. I was grasped by the inspiring projects that were presented by top-class speakers from all over the world. In the Netherlands we have to take a positive attitude towards ageing and demographic change", states Martin Eurlings, minister of Economic Affairs of the Province of Limburg, at the end of the two-day International Silver Economy Conference 2006 in Kerkrade (Parkstad Limburg). "The economic potential shifts to the major opportunities that the growing Senior Economy offers. The conference confirms that in Limburg we have taken the right track with our positive attitude towards pioneering and pilot projects. The conference has given us new insights for drawing up our policy for stimulating new projects. We have calculated that, on basis of rough estimations, within ten years in the Province of Limburg alone, thousands of extra jobs in the field of senior economy will have emerged. This is an indication that the Silver Economy is a factor to be taken seriously." This was the main conclusion of Martin Eurlings, minister of Economic Affairs of the Province of Limburg, at the end of the conference, which was initiated by the Province of Limburg. During the conference, the Province of Limburg has taken the initiative to function as one of the Smart Regions in the project Work Ability Index by professor Ilmarinen from Helsinki. A project for people who are getting older (starting at 40 years of age) that aims at letting them function longer and more effectively on the job by using a so-called Work Ability Index. The effect of this system appears to be so huge, that it was decided to introduce an International network of "Smart Regions". The Province of Limburg has decided to be the first province in the Netherlands to join this network and is willing to fulfil a leading role in building and introducing the system of Work Ability Index. The conference was organised in cooperation with the Silver Economy Network of European Regions (SEN@ER), in which regions from seven European countries cooperate. This network adapts a positive attitude towards an ageing society; ageing is a challenge with a lot of opportunities en positive changes, not a threat. SEN@ER Best Practice Awards 2006. During the conference the SEN@ER Best Practice Competition for the stimulation of innovation in the field of senior economy, was held. The SEN@ER Best Practice Award 2006 has been won by the Handwerkskammer Dsseldorf, for a project in which experiences and new possibilities in the field of independent living for seniors are concentrated within one building. The gained knowledge and information is also made available for a wide audience on Internet [http://www.hwk-duesseldorf.de]. A good second became Mape TyS from Cambrils, Spanje. According to the jury, this enterprise is highly innovative in the field of combining tourism with health [http://www.turismo-salud.com]. The third price was won by the project Older Workers Learning of the University of Strathclyde Senior Studies Institute in Glasgow, United Kingdom. In this project, seniors get support to keep connected to the job process. Further, seniors are taught to develop new skills to be able to have a longer active working life [http://www.cll.strath.ac.uk/ssi.html]. The Silver Economy Conference Europe 2006 made combinations of themes that could be interconnected: tourism and culture, health and life style, living and living environment, work and income, and communicating and networking. These five themes cover mostly all important aspects of Senior Economy. Experts mainly see changes and opportunities in the above mentioned combinations. The financial position of seniors has increased significantly, acknowledging the importance of the silver economy as such. However, not all changes are taken." [Section Three ends]. ++ Section Four: To be continued - The 3rd European Silver Economy Conference 2007. The 3rd European Silver Economy in Europe conference will take place from 15 & 16 November 2007 in Seville, Spain. The conference venue will be the Seville Conference and Exhibition Centre, FIBES [http://www.fibes.es]. The conference will be organised in different parallel sessions, expert workshops and an exhibition. The topics will include - New Technologies & Independent Living. - Tourism and Culture. - Financial Services. - Nutrition. The conference website will be open towards the end of February 2007. We will update the readers of the newsletter about this conference on a regular basis. Contact for more information: Jose Vargas; Fundacin Andaluza de Servicios Sociales; R&D Department; E-mail: secretary@silvereconomy2007.com; Phone: +34 951299521; http://www.juntadeandalucia.es/fundaciondeserviciossociales . Or contact the SEN@ER Secretariat: info@empirica.com ; http://www.silvereconomy-europe.org . [Section Four ends]. ++ Section Five: Reports from the SEN@ER Network and the SEN@ER Secretariat. +09: "First Forum on Europe's Demographic Future" held by the European Commission on 30 - 31 October 2006 in Brussels. In July 2005 the European Commission organised a large conference to support the Green Paper on demographic change. Both the conference and the Green paper focused on finding policies that will allow Europe to cope successfully with demographic change. Now that the main policies, notably in the area of reconciliation, gender equality, active ageing, migration and integration, have been identified, the Commission has started to move in the direction of policy implementation. The first forum on Europe's Demographic Future had a double focus. First it presented and discussed the new Communication on demography which the Commission is currently preparing. The Communication among other things built on the many replies that were received to the Green paper and includes direct references to the Silver Economy and the SEN@ER network. Second the forum served as a platform for the identification and exchange of best practices in policy implementation. Close attention to policy implementation makes it also possible to pay tribute to the various levels in society affected by demographic change i.e. individual, family, company, local, regional, national and European. Under the topic of "regional opportunities for managing demographic change" the silver economy as started and developed in the SEN@ER lead region North Rhine-Westphalia was presented by Dr. Beate Wieland, head of department at the Ministry for Generation, Family, Women and Integration of North Rhine-Westphalia, the SEN@ER lead region. The presentation can be accessed at: http://ec.europa.eu/employment_social/events/2006/demog/wieland_en.pdf . The event finished with a high level policy round table on "Reform preparing for ageing: implementation problems and opportunities". More information is available here: http://ec.europa.eu/employment_social/emplweb/events/event_en.cfm?id=625 . +10: European Commission Communication: "The demographic future of Europe - from challenge to opportunity" addresses the Silver Economy. The European Commission Directorate General Employment, Social Affairs and Equal Opportunities (DG EMPL) has on 12 October 2006 published a Communication "The demographic future of Europe - from challenge to opportunity". Starting with the title of the document and running throughout the document - especially chapter 3.3 - the Communication addresses the issues of the Silver Economy and has widely "borrowed" texts from SEN@ER documents. The document argues that it will become necessary "to encourage companies to incorporate the ageing phenomenon into their innovation strategies" and that "this concerns a number of areas such as information and communication technologies, financial services, transport, energy and tourism infrastructures and local services, in particular long-term care", all of which topics being addressed by the Special Interest Groups in SEN@ER. It also directly mentions that in this area, the "European Union can supplement or expand the forward-looking efforts of the Member States". This is a clear indication for SEN@ER and other players that funding for projects in this area through ERDF, ESF etc. will be possible. Finally, by the end of 2008, the Commission plans to adopt a Communication on how best to take into account the needs of an ageing population. More information is available here: http://europa.eu.int/rapid/pressReleasesAction.do?reference=IP/06/1359&format=HTML&aged=0&language=EN&guiLanguage=en . +11: "MobilAlarm - a location-independent mobile alarm service" is another example of a successful European project with SEN@ER participation. The eTen project MobilAlarm which carried out a European market validation project of a location-independent mobile alarm and telecare service for older and disabled people and funded by the European Commission features in the brochure on Independent Living produced by the Information Society Policy Link initiative. The brochure can be viewed at: http://ec.europa.eu/information_society/activities/policy_link/brochures_2006/index_en.htm . MobilAlarm was coordinated by empirica from North Rhine-Westphalia operating the SEN@ER European Secretariat for the Ministry for Generation, Family, Women and Integration of North Rhine-Westphalia. MobilAlarm partners included FASS (the SEN@ER partner from Andalucia) and the IT industry partner Attendo (now Tunstall) with its headquarters in the SEN@ER region Yorkshire and Humber. More information is available at: http://www.mobilalarm-eu.org . [Section Five ends]. ++ Section Six: European Union. +12: First Call for proposals for the 7th Framework Programme launched by the European Commission. The work programme 2007-2008 for the ICT topic as part of the 7th Framework Specific Programme "Cooperation" provides opportunities for proposal submission to partners in the SEN@ER network. This work programme is going to build the basis for the first Call for Proposals as part of the 7th Framework Programme which was launched on 22 December 2006 with a proposal submission deadline of 8 May 2007. This first as well as the second call to follow later in 2007 will include a "Challenge 7: ICT for Independent Living and Inclusion" with direct relevance for the work of the SEN@ER network providing an opportunity for the submission of proposals relating to and coming from the SEN@ER Special Interest Group (SIG) "Ageing Well". In the work programme direct references to issues and topics addressed by SEN@ER are provided: "ICT provides a major opportunity to integrate people at risk of exclusion and empower individuals to fully participate in the knowledge society. ICT also offers important means to address the problems associated to the ageing population such as the associated rise of number of people with high disability rates, fewer family carers, and a smaller productive workforce. For many people, in particular for groups at risk of exclusion, e.g. the growing part of the population that is over 60, the complexity and lack of accessibility and usability of ICT is a major barrier. The objective is to respond to these trends by mainstreaming and radically improving the accessibility and usability of new ICT solutions. This should ensure a better adoption and acceptance of ICT by people with disabilities and functional limitations, and may have a large spill-over effect to the wider society. In addition, new opportunities offered by ICTs will be exploited to help offset the impact of the ageing population, significantly prolonging independent living, and increasing active participation in the economy and in society. EU level activities under this challenge are expected to be complemented by a major initiative based on Article 169 of the Treaty, bringing together the research programmes of Member States for large-scale trans-national collaboration on applied RTD for 'Ambient Assisted Living'. In complement, this FP7 challenge addresses essential longer term RTD in ICT for independent living and active ageing. A close coordination between these two actions will be ensured. This challenge requires a multi-disciplinary and user-centred approach to RTD combining advanced technology research and systems level integration. Resulting solutions should meet user requirements and achieve wide acceptance. Between 2010 and 2012, the research is expected to provide a substantial contribution towards the i2010 objective of an inclusive society and deliver ICT solutions that, in line with the 2006 Riga Ministerial declaration on Inclusion, help substantially reduce the 30% of the population currently not using ICT. Research is also expected to provide prototypes of systemic ICT-based solutions capable of extending independence and prolonging active participation in society for the ageing population, as well as advanced solutions for other groups at risk of exclusion, notably marginalised young people. This should help create important new market opportunities for European industry and establish global leadership in inclusive ICT." In the objective 3.7.1.1 on "ICT and Ageing" the Commission defines as an intended target outcome of the 7th Framework Programme: - Advanced prototypes of systemic solutions for independent living and active ageing, including mobility aspects and reorganization of integrated care processes, leading to a significant prolongation of personal autonomy and participation in society across prevailing age-related impairments. The longer term multi-disciplinary work should build on and integrate progress in a number of underpinning technologies and complement relevant work already launched under FP6. Proposals should aim to increase system efficiency and end-user acceptance by exploring usage of novel approaches such as self-learning and adapting systems, affective computing principles, models of human behaviour, human activity recognition, and tracking technologies and sensors, ontologies for sharing of contextual information between different services and objects, 3D based multi-media interaction systems and virtual community technologies with appropriate privacy and ethical safeguards. - Open systems reference architectures, standards and platforms enabling systems and services for independent living, smart workplaces and mobility. These should support seamless integration and plug-and play operation of sensors, devices, sub-systems and integrated care services into cost-effective, self-maintaining, reliable and trusted systems. - RTD roadmaps and socio-economic research including recommendations on how to best address ethical and privacy questions. - Contribution to standards setting, and strategic international cooperation with US, Japan ensuring global relevance and impact of European RTD and preparation of future research areas within ICT & ageing. The Commission wants the proposals to have ambitious objectives at the level of a complete system and aim at breakthroughs that go well beyond the state of the art. Industrial participation is encouraged in order to promote technology transfer and strengthen the exploitation potential. Due account shall be taken of the special accessibility and usability needs of the target user group. The work shall wherever possible build on test environments allowing for early user involvement and impact analysis in the RTD process. The expected impact is defined as follows: - Establish the basis for new solutions to increase personal independence, prolong active participation in society and integrated care processes for the ageing population by providing prototypes of systemic ICT solutions in the time frame 2010-2012. - Enable cost-effective solutions and help create a major market for independent and active living products and services through a set of open standards and platforms providing seamless and reliable integration of devices and services. - Consolidate and strengthen Europe's industrial efforts in ICT and Ageing technologies and services by creating a common longer-term RTD agenda including relevant standardisation efforts and ethical or privacy issues. - Further strengthen Europe's academic and industrial knowledge base and excellence in multi-disciplinary research on ICT for independent living and active ageing. A total funding of 30 million Euros is foreseen for the successful project proposals in the first call. The same amount will be distributed as part of the second call. Given the fact that single project will receive a maximum funding of 3 million Euro, it is likely that more than 10 projects will be funded. More information is available at: http://cordis.europa.eu/fp7/calls_en.html . http://cordis.europa.eu/fp7/dc/index.cfm?fuseaction=UserSite.CooperationDetailsCallPage&call_id=11 . +13: The new INTERREG IVC programme will be larger in scope, covering the whole of Europe and with many more regions cooperating together, and have a stronger focus on the Lisbon objectives. Petri Haapalainen, Chairman of the Joint Programming Committee for INTERREG IVC and also a senior officer at the Finnish Ministry of the Interior's Department for development of regions and public administration presented the current state-of-the-play of the new INTERREG IVC programme in which the SEN@ER network plans to submit a proposal for funding some of its current managerial, operational and dissemination activities over the coming years. He made the following central points: the new INTERREG IVC programme will be larger in scope, covering the whole of Europe and with many more regions cooperating together, but it will also have a stronger focus on the Lisbon objectives as redefined by the European Commission. To that end, changes are being made to the way the previous programme worked. The new INTERREG IVC programme will be focused on two main thematic priorities, namely innovation and the knowledge economy on one hand, and environment and risk prevention on the other. Those priorities have been derived from the thematic orientation defined for interregional cooperation in the European Regional Development Fund regulation, published in July 2006, and are completely in the framework of the Lisbon objectives. They will provide a strategic focus for INTERREG IVC. What still needs to be agreed upon and put in place now are the types of intervention under the INTERREG IVC programme on which discussions are still going on. What is clear already is that regions will be able to continue to have the possibility to form and manage their own networks, but would also be asked to do so around themes focused on economic modernisation and the renewed Lisbon agenda and to work more closely with the Commission. The Joint Programming Committee is also discussing the introduction of a so-called Fast Track option which would ensure that identified best practices would find their way also into the Convergence and Competitiveness and Employment programmes. This "capitalisation" will constitute a new feature of the programme and it is the result of a will from the European Commission, in partnership with Member States, to force economic modernisation and competitiveness of Europe's regions to meet the Lisbon objectives. The intention is to use INTERREG IVC programmes to test best practice for economic modernisation and increased competitiveness. The idea was first presented in a paper in June this year, and has since developed to become the Regions for Economic Change initiative. Because INTERREG is such an important element of regional policy, it is being considered how the new initiative could be implemented through INTERREG IVC (Source: Interreg IIIC Newsletter no. 12, December 2006). More information is available here: Lisbon agenda: http://ec.europa.eu/growthandjobs/index_en.htm . European Regional Development Fund Regulation 2007-2013: http://ec.europa.eu/regional_policy/sources/docoffic/official/regulation/newregl0713_en.htm . +14: Economic Growth and Jobs: Study on the European Economy of Culture by the European Commission. The European Commission published a study on the Economy of Culture in Europe. It highlights the direct (in terms of GDP, growth and employment) as well as the indirect (links between creativity and innovation, links with the ICT sector, regional development and attractiveness) contribution of the cultural and creative sectors towards the Lisbon Agenda. Some key figures are as follows: - The culture sector turned over more than 654 billions Euros in 2003. - The sector contributed to 2.6% of EU GDP in 2003. - The overall growth of the sector's value added was 19.7% in 1999-2003. - In 2004, at least 5.8 million people worked in the sector, equivalent to 3.1% of total employed population in Europe. More information, including a download of the study, is available at: http://ec.europa.eu/culture/eac/sources_info/studies/economy_en.html . +15: CIP - Services in support of business and innovation. The Competitiveness and Innovation Framework Programme (CIP) brings together several existing EU activities that support business and innovation. As a major component of the Entrepreneurship and Innovation Programme (EIP), one of the three CIP sub-programmes, the European Commission implements a measure to provide SMEs with integrated services in support of business and innovation. These services will be delivered through a single network to be established through this call for proposals. Access to on-line submission system will become available as from 12.02.2007. The proposal submission deadline is 02.04.2007. More information is available at: http://ec.europa.eu/enterprise/funding/grants/themes_2006/eic_irc/calls_prop_2006_eic_irc_d2.htm . +16: Fact File on Europe's Demographic Future. The European Commission has published a fact file on Europe's demographic future. The main source of the data is Eurostat. It provides a collection of relevant statistics for each Member State. The Fact File is available for download at: http://ec.europa.eu/employment_social/events/2006/demog/fact_file_en.pdf . +17: EURO 7 billion for lifelong learning. The European Parliament adopted, on 25 October 2006, an integrated action programme on lifelong learning for the period 2007-2013. The new programme will replace the existing four sectoral programmes on school education (Comenius), higher education (Erasmus), vocational training (Leonardo da Vinci) and adult education (Grundtvig) when they expire at the end of 2006. This new integrated programme is completed by a 'transversal programme' focusing on policy co-operation, languages and information and communication technology (eLearning). Last but not least, the Jean Monnet programme on European integration will also be put under the new programme, the budget of which will be 6.97 billion for the period 2007-2013. This budget will be used to support projects and activities that, at all ages, "foster interchange, co-operation and mobility between education and training systems within the EU so that they become a world quality reference". Source: http://www.age-platform.org/EN/IMG/CoverAge_October_2006_Final.pdf . +18: User Needs in ICT Research for Independent Living, with a Focus on Health Aspects. This report is the result of a workshop jointly organised by the Information Society Directorate General and the Institute for Prospective Technological Studies (IPTS) on the user needs in ICT Research for Independent Living, with a Focus on Health Aspects. The report proposes a holistic view for independent living and raises the challenges for realising the potentials of ICT based independent living services (ILS). It gives insight into the needs of the elderly people for support to independent living through ICT from a health and healthcare perspective. It concludes that users and their needs should be placed at the centre of ILS R&D and its implementation and it proposes policy options. More information and download at: http://www.jrc.es/home/pages/detail.cfm?prs=1452 . +19: "Regions for Economic Change" - European Commission strengthens exchange of best practices in innovation among European regions. The European Commission presented on 8 November 2006 plans to boost innovation by bringing European regions together into strong partnerships and to help them take advantage of experience and best practice. This new initiative "Regions for Economic Change" was adopted on 8 November by the Commission under the "Territorial Cooperation" objective. It introduces new ways to dynamise regional and urban networks to help them work closely with the Commission to have innovative ideas tested and rapidly disseminated into the mainstream programmes. An annual 'Regions for Economic Change' conference featuring innovation awards is foreseen to coincide with the Spring European Council to further enhance communication and dissemination of best practice results in line with the EU agenda for growth and jobs. Press release available at: http://europa.eu/rapid/pressReleasesAction.do?reference=IP/06/1526&format=HTML&aged=0&language=EN&guiLanguage=en . +20: European Foundation looks at age and employment. In a recent issue of its newsletter Foundation Focus, the European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working Conditions places the spotlight on age and employment, viewed in the light of recent policy developments at EU and national level and based on Foundation research findings in this area. If Europe is to maintain its current standard of living "it is crucial that people work longer governments, social partners and individuals must share the responsibility for making it happen", argues Commissioner Vladimir pidla in an interview in the latest issue of Foundation Focus, which investigates the subject of Europe's ageing workforce. Based on recent results of Foundation research, this issue examines the topic from different angles, underscored by the European policy perspective. Findings from the Fourth European Working Conditions Survey on working conditions illustrate the importance of adapting working conditions to suit an ageing workforce. Case studies on successful age management show how companies can introduce age-adapted schemes and training for older workers. Other articles examine the incidence of both phased and early retirement schemes across Europe, the need for better care services for the older population and the quality of life experienced by older people. The foundation focus is available at: http://www.eurofound.eu.int/publications/htmlfiles/ef0658.htm . [Section Six ends]. ++ Section Seven: Conferences, Projects, Miscellaneous. +21: European Conference: Regions for Economic Change - Fostering Competitiveness Through Innovative Technologies , Products and Healthy Communities, 7 - 8 March 2007, Brussels. On 7 and 8 March 2007, the European Commission invites to the first annual conference of the 'Regions for economic change' initiative 'Regions for economic change' under the title "Fostering competitiveness through innovative technologies, products and healthy communities". The event will be organised by the Commission's Regional Policy Directorate General and other Commission services together with the French region of Provence-Alpes-Cte d'Azur and in cooperation with the Committee of the Regions. The conference aims to facilitate the exchange of good practices for pursuing the implementation of the Lisbon strategy at regional level through cohesion instruments. In particular, the event will showcase examples of good practice and governance in European regional policy in the fields of technological innovation, market development for new products and services and the improvement of quality of life of the citizens. In nine workshops, experts will debate on strategies, experiences and projects around three themes: - small and medium-sized enterprises, transfer of technology and governance; - innovative technologies, products and markets for sustainable growth; - improved regions and cities for businesses and citizens. On the 8 March, Mrs Danuta Hbner, European Commissioner for Regional Policy, will launch the "Regional Innovation Awards" which aim at seeking best European practice in regional development. Through an "exchange and networking forum" the event will offer a learning and networking opportunity for authorities managing the Structural Funds, implementing bodies such as regional development agencies, and business organisations. The 'forum' will be organised in cooperation with the French region of Provence-Alpes-Ctes d'Azur and with the support of the Committee of the Regions. The Committee of the Regions will also present the "Lisbon Monitoring Platform", a network of more than 60 regional and local authorities which monitors in detail the progress of the implementation of the Lisbon Strategy and its governance process. It will showcase good practices and challenges for the local and the regional level in different policy areas. A provisional programme of the conference can be found here, the final programme will be published in February 2007: http://ec.europa.eu/regional_policy/conferences/competitiveness/programme_en.cfm?nmenu=4 . +22: Towards an Inclusive Future - COST219ter conference on eAccessibility and next generation networks. On 16 January 2007 the COST219ter network held a conference titled "Extending Horizons: Accessibility to Next Generation Networks" in London at the premises of BT. The conference gave an overview of the main developments in the area of communication technology expected for the coming years and tried to find some answers on how older people and people with disabilities will be able to profit from these developments. The conference was opened by a video speech by Viviane Reding, European Commissioner for Information Society and Media. Commissioner Reding made a strong point that also in the eAccessibility arena, the demographic change should not only be seen as a threat, but also as an opportunity for economic growth and greater inclusion. In doing so, she alluded to the recent Communication from the Commission on "The demographic future of Europe - from challenge to opportunity" dated 12 October 2006. This Communication, in turn, drew heavily upon SEN@ER and its positive understanding of population ageing. Further speakers included well-known eAccessibility experts such as John Gill from the Royal National Institute of the Blind, Professor Patrick Roe from the Ecole Polytechnique Fdrale de Lausanne, and Inmaculada Placencia-Porrero from the European Commission. The COST219ter network has also published a new book, called "Towards an Inclusive Future: Impact and Wider Potential of Information and Communication Technologies" (edited by Patrick Roe), dealing with the following issues: - How ambient intelligence offers new possibilities for people with disabilities. - How broadband can help smart housing fulfil its true potential. - Why remote sign language interpretation using 3G video telephony has had such a high take up. - Why accessibility, like quality, needs to be considered at all stages of the design process. - Why the inclusion of Design for All principles in standards will become as commonplace as reference to quality standards. - How the interests of disadvantaged users can be protected within the revision of framework directives without hampering innovation. - How user trials encompassing the needs of people with disabilities can be built into any development process. More information on the COST219 network is available from here: http://www.tiresias.org/cost219ter/ . The book "Towards an inclusive future" is available for download from here: http://www.tiresias.org/cost219ter/inclusive_future/index.htm . The Commission's communication on the demographic change can be found here [PDF file]: http://ec.europa.eu/employment_social/news/2006/oct/demography_en.pdf . +23: European Information Society Conference - EISCO 2007 in Hmeenlinna, Finland, 16 - 18 April 2007. This event will offer a platform for local and regional authorities in Europe to discuss eGovernment and Information Society strategies, to share good practices and evaluate achievements. This year, the event wants to promote the Digital Local Agenda implementation process in Europe and highlight its potential contribution to the i2010 strategy, focusing on five areas: Citizens' eParticipation in local decision-making processes; eCapacity building programmes of administrations to ensure digital cohesion and improved eGovernment performance at local level; Broadband infrastructure and the new wireless network solutions; Local eGovernment interoperability and eSecurity to make the creation of local networks more feasible; The new generation of municipal services in a multi-channel environment. More information is available from here: http://www.hameenliitto.fi/eisco2007/ . +24: Study "The New Member States and the Dependent Elderly". The 10 new member states that joined the European Union in May 2004 have increased the population of the EU-15 by 20% and together account for almost 16.4% of the total EU-25 population. The current ageing of the population in the EU-15 has highlighted other challenges besides the well-known problems of financing pension and health care systems. It has also highlighted the risks of a rise in the dependent elderly population and the need to adjust social welfare systems accordingly. Given the emerging risks and problems in the EU-15, one may wonder about the situation in the new member states. This study shows that while the new member states do not yet appear to be facing the problem of elderly dependency on the same scale as the EU-15 countries, in the coming decades it is likely they will have to contend with it to a much greater degree. The study also indicates that provision for dependent elderly care in the 10 countries does not seem to be fully established as yet. That being said, Malta and Slovenia, countries that will have a considerable proportion of the oldest old among their populations in the near future, are distinguishable from the others in that they appear better prepared in terms of dependent elderly care. Although Poland is considered to be far from prosperous as regards economic and social development, in terms of population ageing - particularly provision for the dependent elderly - it also looks better placed than most of the other new member states, which appear to be less generous in assistance provided to the dependent elderly. The three Baltic States are notable in that the share of GDP they allocate to this category is lowest, even though they are expected to have the oldest populations in the years to come. This study authored by Corinne Mette was published on 24 July 2006 and can be downloaded here: http://shop.ceps.be/BookDetail.php?item_id=1362 . +25: "Regional Policy Responses to Demographic Challenges" conference brochure. A brochure on the conference "Regional Policy Responses to Demographic Challenges" on 25 and 26 January has been developed by the Commission. On 24 pages, the brochure resents the political context, regional statistics and maps as well as descriptions of 10 projects dealing with the different aspects and being funded by cohesion instruments. Brochure download: http://ec.europa.eu/regional_policy/conferences/demographicchallenge_jan07/doc/pdf/brochure_v06_120107.pdf . DG Regio website: http://ec.europa.eu/regional_policy/conferences/demographicchallenge_jan07/home_en.cfm . +26: Personal Health Systems 2007. Europe is facing the challenge of delivering quality healthcare to all its citizens, at affordable cost. The increasing demand by citizens for best quality healthcare, the costs of managing chronic diseases, and the need for prolonged medical care for the ageing society are major factors behind this challenge. Personal Health Systems can create opportunities for everybody, including the elderly population, to receive the best available healthcare. A conference organised by the European Commission focuses on the state-of-the-art in Personal Health Systems, such as wearable and portable health monitoring systems, and ICT-supported personalised services for extended healthcare, including home care. Conference sessions will be held over two days and will feature experts from a diverse background. Invited speakers will come from research organisations, medical device industry, healthcare organisations, user groups, Member State public administrations, policy makers, procurers and insurers. By bringing together healthcare professionals, industrial representatives as well as European, national and regional authorities, the conference aims to stimulate market development and support Member States and regions in deploying eHealth systems and services that enable better care for people in an ageing society. More information is available at: http://ec.europa.eu/information_society/events/phs_2007/index_en.htm . +27: Experience is the future - German initiative on the opportunities of the demographic change. The German federal government has launched an initiative called "Experience is the Future" (Erfahrung ist Zukunft) to put an emphasis on the opportunities offered by the demographic change and to promote social participation of Germany's older population. "We want to see the demographic change as a chance and opportunity for Germany" said German Bundeskanzlerin Angela Merkel. With some delay, the federal government starts to adopt a positive view of the ageing population, thus mirroring comparable initiatives that have been in place in several German federal states - such as North Rhine-Westphalia and Lower Saxony - for quite some time. More information (in German) is available at: http://www.erfahrung-ist-zukunft.de/Webs/EiZ/DE/Homepage/home.html__nnn=true . +28: Conference "Confronting demographic change: a new solidarity between the generations". On 11 and 12 July 2007 the European Commission will organise a major political conference on demography to support the debate initiated by the recently published Commission Green Paper "Confronting demographic change: a new solidarity between the generations". The conference will bring together ministers, members of parliament, social partners, NGOs and independent experts. The aim of the conference is to explore some of the answers to the many questions that are developed in the Green Paper. The debate will focus on the policy responses that are needed in areas such as family policy, work life balance, active ageing, migration and integration, role for the EU to allow our societies to cope with demographic change in a successful way. The conference will take place in Brussels and will be hosted by Commissioner Mr Spidla, it will consist of a political round table plus 4 different workshops in which various stakeholders will discuss desirable policy changes. More information is available at: http://ec.europa.eu/employment_social/emplweb/events/event_en.cfm?id=5 . +29: Equality Summit German Presidency 2007. The first Equality Summit was held by the German Presidency in Berlin on 30 and 31 January 2007. At the same time, the 2007- European Year of Equal Opportunities for All was inaugurated in collaboration with the European Commission. This high level conference to which Ministers, civil servants, NGOs, equality bodies, social partners, and national implementing bodies have been invited - focused on the four objectives of the year: - rights - raising awareness on the right to equality and non-discrimination. - representation - stimulating debate on ways to increase participation in society. - recognition - celebrating and accommodating diversity. - respect and tolerance - promoting a more cohesive society. The conference provided an opportunity to take stock of what has been achieved across the European Union in promoting equality on the grounds of age, disability, gender, racial and ethnic origin, religion and sexual orientation. The two-day event was opened on 30 January 2007 by the German Minister of Family Affairs, Ursula von der Leyen, and Commissioner Vladimr Spidla. More information is available at: http://ec.europa.eu/employment_social/equality2007/index_en.htm . +30: "User Orientation of Public Online Services": online knowledge base available. The eUser project on "User Orientation of Public Online Services" has recently been completed and now offers a wealth of evidence-based information in an online Knowledge Base. The EU-funded eUser project's research includes a representative population survey and assessments of the supply side of online services of public interest in all 25 EU Member States. The eUser survey has data from 10 European countries on access, usage patterns and attitudes towards public services provided via the Internet. Concise country briefs for each of the EU25 countries include information on: - the state-of-the-art in eGovernment, eHealth and eLearning; - the supply and demand of public online services, and - public sector's readiness to provide user-oriented online services. The country briefs are based on desk research, interviews with experts and stakeholders, as well as on secondary data from Eurostat and other Commission Services. The project also has analysed 21 good practice cases in eGovernment, eHealth and eLearning from the EU Member States. eUser is a resource to Member States, especially to those responsible for online public services offerings. The freely available eUser Online Knowledge Base is found on http://www.euser-eu.org, together with additional statistics and publications, fully searchable. It is expected to become a key European resource for years to come and will be a reference model to improve the delivery, design and user experience of online public services. Key findings from the eUser project include: - eHealth: An increasing number of Europeans are turning to the Internet for health information. The survey finds that one-half of internet users have searched online for health information, and many act on the information they find, even sometimes against what the doctor ordered. - eLearning boosts opportunities for lifelong learning in Europe - but uptake is modest. The survey shows that user-orientation of eLearning services is what matters most. Governments need to focus on those most in need of upskilling. - Europeans want easy-to-find, useful and accessible public online services - but supply is short. User-orientation is what matters most for eGovernment provision. The eUser study's review of current supply & demand indicates much room for improvement. More information and access to the online knowledge base is available at: http://www.euser-eu.org . +31: Labour agreement "Demographic Change" in German steel industry. The German steel worker union (IG Metall) and the steel industry have concluded a labour agreement "Demographic Change" containing special provisions for older employees. According to a union representative this was the first time ever that such an agreement has been made in Germany. "The agreement ensures healthy working conditions for older employees until retirement age and opens up new ways for early retirement" said IG Metall deputy director Berthold Huber. Among other things, the steel industry agreed to undertake extensive research on age structures in its businesses. This shall serve as a basis for individual agreements between work councils and employers. In addition, a comprehensive catalogue of measures to ensure healthy and age-friendly working conditions was defined. More information (in German) is available at: http://www.igmetall.de/cps/rde/xchg/SID-0A342C90-8CFB82E2/internet/style.xsl/view_4508_4525.htm?seitenid=305 . [Section Seven ends]. ++ End Notes. +32: Contact. If you are interested in further information regard-ing the Silver Economy Network of European Re-gions please visit our website at: http://www.silvereconomy-europe.org/ or contact us: Responsible as SEN@ER lead partner region at the regional government of North Rhine-Westphalia: Ministry of Health, Equalities, Care and Ageing of North Rhine-Westfalia Dr. Claus Eppe Head of Unit Silver Economy, Media Competence Horionplatz 1, D-40213 Dsseldorf Phone: +49 (2 11) 8 618-3320 Fax: +49 (2 11) 8 618-4460 mailto:claus.eppe@mgffi.nrw.de European SEN@ER Secretariat: Ingo Meyer, Christiane Krupp, Werner B. Korte empirica Gesellschaft fr Kommunikations- und Technologieforschung mbH Oxfordstr. 2, D - 53111 Bonn Phone: +49 (2 28) 9 85 30-0 Fax: +49 (2 28) 9 85 30-12 mailto: info@empirica.com http://www.empirica.com/ http://www.silvereconomy-europe.org/ . +33: Disclaimer. You receive this newsletter because you are subscribed to our mailing list. If you do not wish to receive further newsletters from us please send a message to mailto: info@empirica.com. We apologize for any inconveniences caused by cross-postings or unsolicited mailings. +34: Copyright notice. Copyright 2007 Silver Economy Network of European Regions. http://www.silvereconomy-europe.org/, mailto: info@empirica.com . This newsletter or part of this newsletter may be reproduced as long as this copyright notice (including the website address) is included. Please also inform the editor when you are reproducing the content of the newsletter. +35: TEN Standard. This Newsletter conforms to the Text E-Mail Newsletter (TEN) Standard. The TEN Standard is designed to ease navigation of plain text email newsletters by all readers, including those using special access technologies, especially vision-impaired people. More information can be obtained here: http://www.headstar.com/ten/ [End notes end]. [Newsletter ends].