+++ The European Silver Economy Newsletter, Issue 5, June 2007. ++ Contents. ++ Editorial: renaissance projects in towns and cities making the region a great place to live and work - Yorkshire and Humber joins the SEN@ER. ++ Section One: The Silver Economy on the European Commission Policy Agenda. +01: Council of the European Union policy explicitly refers to the opportunities for Europe and its regions inherent in and offered by the "silver economy". +02: European Commission to publish a Communication on "Ageing Well in the Information Society" in late 2007. +03: Communication of the European Commission: "i2010 - Annual Information Society Report 2007". ++ Section Two: Reports from the SEN@ER Regions. +04: The SEN@ER network continues to grow - Limousin has joined as the first region from France. +05: NRW Study "Unlock the Silver Economy for older migrants". +06: Starting signal: NRW offensive for the qualification of older people to become senior trainers. +07: WHO-Initiative "Global Age-Friendly Cities Project": the metropolitan region Ruhr in NRW has joined the initiative. +08: NRW: International conference: "Age-friendly cities - international exchange of experiences" from 11 - 13 June 2007 in Essen and Mülheim/Ruhr. +09: WHO-Initiative "Global Age-Friendly Cities Project". +10: Demographics Trainings: MGFFI NRW and the Bertelsmann Foundation started a joint project. +11: Scotland: "All our futures" - A regional strategy for an ageing population. ++ Section Three: 3rd European Silver Economy Conference 2007 - The Silver Generation Driving Europe – Seville, Spain, 15/16 November 2007. ++ Section Four: Reports from the SEN@ER Network and the SEN@ER Secretariat. +12: Successful SOPRANO EU Project Kick-off meeting - next generation technology for elderly care. +13: European proposal "I3L - Interoperability Initiative for Independent Living and Ageing Well in Europe" submitted together with SEN@ER partners. +14: European proposal "BeIn4Europe - Better use of Policy Indicators for Europe" submitted together with SEN@ER partners. +15: 2nd SEN@ER European Commission Funding Programmes Briefing Workshop on 20 June 2007 at the Ministry for Intergenerational Affairs, Family, Women and Integration of North Rhine-Westfalia, Düsseldorf. +16: International Herald Tribune: In Europe, care for the elderly is being transformed. ++ Section Five: European Union. +17: New website of the ICT Policy Support Programme launched. +18: Workshop on possible Themes for the CIP ICT Work Programme 2008. +19: CIP Programme ICT PSP Workshop on Theme 2 "ICT for accessibility, ageing and social integration" opened in Call 1. +20: European Commission DG EMPL Call for Proposals: ENEA Preparatory Action on Active Ageing and Mobility of Elderly People. +21: i2010 - A European Information Society for growth and employment. ++ Section Six: Conferences, Projects, Miscellaneous. +22: Conference proceedings from the "2nd European Silver Economy Conference" are now available. +23: Conference proceedings "Regional Policy Responses to Demographic Challenges". +24: SEN@ER at the European Congress on "Demographic Change as Opportunity: The Economic Potential of the Elderly" on April 17-18, 2007 in Berlin. +25: Conference "Social and Economic Benefits of Inclusive Technology". +26: New Project: CAALYX - Complete Ambient Assisted Living. +27: New Project: OLDES - Older People's e-services at home. +28: New Project: EMERGE - Emergency Monitoring and Prevention. +29: Be Part of It - eInclusion Discussion and Information site launched. ++ End Notes. +30: Contact. +31: Disclaimer. +32: Copyright notice. +33: TEN Standard. [Contents ends]. ++ Editorial: renaissance projects in towns and cities making the region a great place to live and work - Yorkshire and Humber joins the SEN@ER. In Yorkshire and Humber we are undertaking renaissance projects in our towns and cities - making the region a great place to live and work. We work with our businesses to help them find new markets, to innovate, invest in research and development, as well as encouraging entrepreneurs to start their own business. We help people get jobs and although we’ve lost as many jobs in manufacturing over the last 7 years as in the 7 years before, our employment rate is amongst the highest in Europe. Why is an understanding of the impact of an ageing population important to the Yorkshire and Humber region? It is important, because if we don’t deal with demographic change it will undermine our economic success, stability and future growth - not just on a regional level but on a national and European level too. In two years time, the number of people over state pension age in the United Kingdom will overtake the number of children. In 20 years more than half the population will be over 50. But those over 50 are less likely to be employed than those under 50. The cost to regional economic growth and success is significant. We have low unemployment with 50,000 more people in jobs since 1999. But this masks 60,000 unfilled vacancies, with skills shortages in key areas. We need between 155,000-200,000 more jobs in the region in the next 10 years if our economy is to grow. What will happen if our working age population shrinks? How can we meet this target if we have less people of working age? We are actively looking at the impact of demographic change in our region and taking action to specifically work with older people. A recent project is based on Third Age Entrepreneurs. Here we are working to encourage over 50s to start their own business. We have found that later in life, entrepreneurs have a better business survival rate than younger entrepreneurs. It is business that creates wealth: businesses run by over 50s also address the issue of an ageing workforce. With Europe as a whole facing these changes, there is much to be learnt from each other. As we work together, I hope that we find ways to make the ageing population an economic benefit, not simply a concern. The SEN@ER Network offers the opportunity to exchange knowledge and experience, and ultimately to work together to bring the practical opportunities and challenges of the ageing population of Europe to a wider audience. Tom Riordan, Chief Executive. Yorkshire Forward, the Regional Development Agency for Yorkshire & Humber, United Kingdom. [Editorial ends]. ++ Section One: The Silver Economy on the European Commission Policy Agenda. +01: Council of the European Union policy explicitly refers to the opportunities for Europe and its regions inherent in and offered by the "silver economy". With the resolution "Opportunities and challenges of demographic change in Europe" (6226/07) dated 22 February 2007" also the Council of the European Union has defined a clear policy position and explicitly refers to the opportunities for Europe and its regions inherent in and offered by the "silver economy". With the recent resolution of the Council of the European Union, Europe has done a big step towards the achievement of this goal. In the resolution, the Council emphasises that: "the increased ageing of the population is not only a challenge but also offers opportunities to improve the competitiveness and innovative abilities of the European economy and to promote growth and employment" "responding to the needs of older people by making accessible specific goods and services to improve their quality of life represents new economic opportunities ("silver economy") which should be seized upon to enhance economic growth and create new jobs". The Council invites the Commission: "to continue to work on the opportunities and challenges of demographic change on a horizontal basis, so that the possible contributions of all policy areas may be considered when developing options to act" - "to support relevant fora also at national, regional and local levels, thus promoting the necessary exchange of experience in dealing with the consequences of demographic change; to take measures to enable the envisaged high-level expert group quickly to commence its work on demographic issues and to set out its priorities in a work programme; - to take into account the growing and diversifying demand for goods and services for older people in the 7th Framework Programme on Research in order to encourage developments in this area and thus to increase the chance of Europe becoming a leading example of the "silver economy"; to take care that, on the basis of the possibilities offered by the European Structural Funds, appropriate financial support is granted to local, regional and national initiatives for adapting to and positively coping with demographic change. It also invites the Member States: "to respond to the needs of an ageing society and to create suitable framework conditions for opening new markets in the context of the "silver economy" in order to make better use of the opportunities for economic growth. This includes, in particular, the development of innovative approaches for activities which reflect different regional and national conditions and for which financial support from the European Structural Funds should be used; to facilitate access to knowledge and experience gained when coping with the consequences of demographic change, in particular to relevant studies and innovative approaches, and thus to facilitate the exchange of experience at European level; here, Member States may make use, in particular, of the experience of the European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working Conditions; to establish partnerships, for example with industry, trade federations and chambers of trade and commerce and with older people's associations with the aim of encouraging the development of "silver economy" products and services; to support initiatives at all levels that promote solidarity between the generations by encouraging the active participation of the elderly in society; the establishment of networks and the exchange of experience in respect of such initiatives should be supported with the aim of enhancing their spread and effectiveness". More information at: http://europa.eu.int/rapid/pressReleasesAction.do?reference=IP/06/1359&format=HTML&aged=0&language=EN&guiLanguage=en . The full document (in English and German) can be downloaded here: http://www.consilium.europa.eu/cms3_Applications/applications/search/newsDocDetails.asp?cmsid=650&dockey=92911&doclang=EN&lang=EN . For more information, please contact the SEN@ER Secretariat: mailto:sener@empirica.com . +02: European Commission to publish a Communication on "Ageing Well in the Information Society" in late 2007. In the meantime 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. A recent success is the Communication "The demographic future of Europe - from challenge to opportunity" from DG EMPL which has been published on 12 October 2006 (cf. SEN@ER Newsletter No. 4). 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. 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. Currently (June 2007) DG INFSO & Media are preparing a Communication on "Ageing Well in the Information Society". For more information, please contact the SEN@ER Secretariat: mailto:sener@empirica.com . +03: Communication of the European Commission: "i2010 - Annual Information Society Report 2007". In the above Communication "i2010 - Annual Information Society Report 2007" launched in Brussels on 30 March 2007 (COM(2007) 146 final), the Commission has included a direct reference to the SEN@ER topic "Ageing Well" in the chapter on "Quality of life". Here the Commission states that "ICT are not only a driver of innovation and competitiveness, but also change the way people live and communicate. i2010 responds by focusing on areas where technological innovations could significantly improve quality of life: ageing, cultural diversity, intelligent cars, and climate change. In 2007, the Commission will launch a flagship initiative on Ageing well in the information society. This will comprise a research initiative on Ambient Assisted Living (AAL), based on Article 169 of the EU Treaty, integrating technologies into products and services to ensure a continuum from advanced research to deployment. This will be complemented by longer-term research in FP6 and FP7 and deployment activities under the CIP, such as home care for elderly." More information at: http://ec.europa.eu/information_society/eeurope/i2010/annual_report/index_en.htm . [Section One ends]. ++ Section Two: Reports from the SEN@ER Regions. +04: The SEN@ER network continues to grow - Limousin has joined as the first region from France. After the SEN@ER network has grown by three more member regions recently, Limousin as the first French region also joined the network and has been warmly welcomed by the other partner regions. Since its establishment in 2005, the network has grown by 60% up until now. The SEN@ER network grew from 10 regions at the start in 2005 to 16 regions well spread across Europe and also including the new Member States in 2007. The aim for 2010 is to reach a number of 30 regions which will cover 20% of the EU27 population. New member regions can join the network by signing the declarations. At present, the network represents 12 per cent of the EU population, but if all prospective member regions actually join the network, that proportion will increase to some 20 per cent. For more information, please contact the SEN@ER Secretariat: mailto:sener@empirica.com , or visit: http://www.silvereconomy-europe.org . +05: NRW Study "Unlock the Silver Economy for older migrants". In order to support older migrants to lead an independent life it becomes necessary to acquire a better knowledge of their requirements in terms of consumption and service needs. As part of the regional initiative "Seniors Economy" in NRW an expert study was developed which includes information and recommendations on how best to develop products and services especially for this target group. Download of the study: http://www.mgffi.nrw.de/pdf/senioren/erschliessung-seniorenwirtschaft.pdf . +06: Starting signal: NRW offensive for the qualification of older people to become senior trainers. NRW minister Armin Laschet announced that over the coming three years 14 municipalities in NRW will train and qualify approx. 360 senior trainers. Already up until today NRW has successfully trained 180 such senior trainers. More information about the programme "seniorTrainerin": http://www.seniortrainerin.de/ . +07: WHO-Initiative "Global Age-Friendly Cities Project": the metropolitan region Ruhr in NRW has joined the initiative. The metropolitan area Ruhr - which is encompassing major cities of the Ruhrgebiet with more than 5 million citizens in NRW - aims to become the most age-friendly region in the world. The city of Gelsenkirchen intends to play a leading role in this respect. The cities and districts of the Ruhrgebiet are united with other world cities on set of common goals to improve the quality of life of the older population in their regions and cities. With the decision to join the initiative the participating cities of the Ruhr region and the regional government aim to support the silver economy in the region and improve the quality of life of the older population. The focus of activities will be on four topics: independent living and home based services, health (especially prevention and health promotion), participation (in policy decision making processes), culture and education in age. For the implementation and operation of the initiative in NRW a steering group was set up encompassing the ministry MGFFI, the Regionalverband Ruhr (RVR) (Regional Association of the Cities of the Ruhr Area) and the Institut Arbeit und Technik (IAT). The Ruhr area is the only German metropolis participating in this project next to cities like London, Tokyo, Shanghai, Melbourne, Buenos Aires und Istanbul to name just a few. Through the cooperation with partner cities the Ruhrgebiet cities will gain stimuli for coping with the challenges and capturing the opportunities which are emerging from the growing number of migrants. Istanbul is an important project partner since it has also been announced culture capital of Europe 2010 as the Ruhrgebiet. In 2007 three international conferences will be organised in the Ruhr area as part of this project. It will start with an international exchange of experiences from 11 to 13 June 2007 in Essen and Mülheim an der Ruhr (cf. below). On the world seniors day on 1 October 2007 a conference will be held in Duisburg entitled "The senior fit city" where the results from the older population surveys in the different cities of this initiative will be presented and guidelines discussed. The final event on "Age and Migration" (working title) will be organised fort he 22 November 2007 in Oberhausen. More information at: http://www.rvr-online.de/medien/aktuelles/Presseinfo.shtml?239 . +08: NRW: International conference: "Age-friendly cities - international exchange of experiences" from 11 - 13 June 2007 in Essen and Mülheim/Ruhr. The main objective of the international conference is to establish and build a dialogue board for the regional partners of the WHO-project "Age Friendly Cities" (AFC). The conference will offer the participants a chance to exchange their experiences and best practice and to start a dialogue with partners from other regions of the WHO-Initiative. The main focal points of the conference are: - security and independence: housing and home based services; - health (especially prevention and health promotion); - participation; - culture and education in age. For further information please contact: - Angelika Koopmann, Institute for Work and Technology, Munscheidstraße 14, 45886 Gelsenkirchen phone: +49-209 / 1707163, mailto:koopmann@iat.eu. - Regionalverband Ruhr, Regional Association of the Cities of the Ruhr Area, Carsten Tum, mailto:tum@rvr-online.de. - Ministerium für Generationen, Familie, Frauen und Integration des Landes NRW, Ministry for Intergenerational Affairs, Family, Women and Integration of the State of North Rhine-Westphalia, Dr. Claus Eppe, mailto:claus.eppe@mgffi.nrw.de. - World Health Organisation, Dr. Louise Plouffe, mailto:PlouffeL@who.int. The number of participants is limited to 130 persons. Therefore we ask you to register, please contact mailto:koopmann@iat.eu or use the registration form and send it to the above address. For further information keep visiting this site: http://seniorenwirt.de . +09: WHO-Initiative "Global Age-Friendly Cities Project". To support Governments in developing and strengthening health and social policies in an ageing world, the World Health Organization (WHO) released a Policy Framework on Active Ageing in 2002. Active ageing policy is defined as "optimizing opportunities for health, participation and security in order to enhance quality of life as people age." The active ageing approach is grounded in the UN-recognized principles of independence, participation, dignity, care and self-fulfilment. It acknowledges the importance of gender, earlier life experiences, and culture on how individuals age. It takes into account the biological, psychological, behavioural, economic, social and environmental factors that operate over the course of a person’s life to determine health and well-being in later years. Since the release of the Active Ageing Framework, it has been used by WHO as a basis for developing guidelines to make front-line primary health care services more "age-friendly" - that is, more accessible and responsive to the specific needs of older persons. WHO is now turning its attention to the environmental and social factors that contribute to active ageing in urban settings. The aim of the WHO Global Age-Friendly Cities project is to engage cities in several countries to make their communities more age-friendly. Making cities age-friendly is one of the most effective policy approaches for responding to demographic ageing. One of the reasons for focusing on cities is that major urban centres have the economic and social resources to make changes to become more age-friendly and can thus lead the way for other communities within their countries. In the developed world, three-quarters of older persons live in cities. Although proportionately more older persons live in rural areas in the developing world, rapid urbanization is gradually reversing the picture: large cities already count substantial numbers of older adult residents. What is an Age-Friendly City? Older people face increasing challenges due to the sensory and other changes that age brings. In an age-friendly community, policies, services and structures related to the physical and social environment are designed to support and enable older people to "age actively" - that is, to live in security, enjoy good health and continue to participate fully in society. Public and commercial settings and services are made accessible to accommodate varying levels of ability. Age-friendly service providers, public officials, community leaders, faith leaders and business people: - recognize the great diversity among older persons, - promote their inclusion and contribution in all areas of community life, - respect their decisions and lifestyle choices, and - anticipate and respond flexibly to aging-related needs and preferences. Many aspects of urban settings and services can contribute to the participation, health, independence and security of older persons in an age-friendly city. Global Age-Friendly Cities Project brochure: http://www.who.int/ageing/projects/age-friendly_cities.pdf . +10: Demographics Trainings: MGFFI NRW and the Bertelsmann Foundation started a joint project. The Bertelsmann Foundation and the Ministerium für Generationen, Familie, Frauen und Integration together with the associations representing the municipalities in NRW have started a joint project called "demographics training". The aim is to brief and train city mayors, city representatives and managers in public authorities in how to best address and cope with the societal changes in municipalities including recommendations and options for action. The Bertelsmann Foundation will finance the starting phase of the initiative with three such trainings. The municipality associations will run advertising campaigns in the different municipalities. These will include the Kommunalpolitische Vereinigung der CDU (KPV), the Sozialdemokratische Gemeinschaft für Kommunalpolitik, die Vereinigung Liberaler Kommunalpolitiker and the "Grün-Alternativen in den Räten". The start phase in the first quarter of 2007 willinclude the cities Bielefeld, Euskirchen, Hattingen, Herten, Laer, Schloß Holte-Stukenbrock, Mülheim, Ostbevern, Schwerte, Siegen, Versmold und Wiehl. More information: http://www.mgffi.nrw.de/presse/pressemitteilungen/pm2007/pm070302a/index.php . Website: http://www.bertelsmann-stiftung.de/cps/rde/xchg/bst/hs.xsl/49203.htm . Brochure: http://www.bertelsmann-stiftung.de/bst/de/media/xcms_bst_dms_17928_17929_2.pdf . +11: Scotland: "All our futures" - A regional strategy for an ageing population. A long-term strategy, "All Our Futures: Planning for a Scotland with an Ageing Population", has been published in March 2007 outlining the opportunities and choice available to people as they get older. By 2031 the number of people aged over 50 in Scotland is projected to rise by 28 per cent and the number aged over 75 is projected to increase by 75 per cent. First Minister Jack McConnell said: "Improving the quality of life for older people and creating opportunities for us as a country to benefit from their experience, is what this strategy is all about". "We need to break down barriers between generations and we need to ensure that services are in place so that people can live life to the full as they grow older." "We must stop seeing our ageing population as a burden. We need to think about the opportunities it can offer both socially and economically." This plan follows one of the most extensive consultation and engagement processes ever undertaken by the Executive. The consultation identified six priority areas for action: 1. improving opportunities and removing barriers; 2. forging better links between the generations; 3. improving and maintaining health and well being; 4. improving care, support and protection for older people; 5. developing housing, transport and planning services; 6. offering learning opportunities throughout life. The Executive has allocated £27 million of funding to support the strategy. This includes the establishment of a National Forum on Ageing and a new Scottish Centre for Intergenerational Practice to improve links between young and old. Through the strategy, additional funding of £14 million in 2007-08 will be made on fuel poverty programmes, including the Central Heating Programme. An additional £10 million of funding has also been allocated in 2007-08 to help homeowners adapt their homes to meet their changing needs and help older people stay in their homes and communities for longer. Communities Minister Rhona Brankin said: "As the population ages, and the proportion of older people increases, we want to be sure that Scotland can benefit from the experience of older people." "This is not about making people work until they drop. This is about identifying and removing the barriers that prevent people doing what they want as they get older, whether that is paid work, volunteering, or pursuing other opportunities to enrich their lives and communities." "We can already be proud of the better services for older people - free central heating, free personal care and free local bus travel. These are major achievements of devolution. But more needs to be done." "This strategy sets a challenge for the next 20-years. We are entering a new era for ageing well in Scotland and we need the help of local authorities, public agencies, education bodies, the private sector and voluntary sector, to make this strategy a success." Lord Sutherland of Houndwood, who chaired the Scottish Parliament's Futures Forum's recent study into the ageing population, said: "There is a positive side to growing old. The Scottish Executive has recognised this and proposes to act. Some older people need care and the Scottish Parliament has responded creditably." "For the majority, however, what is required is opportunity to flourish and contribute to the wider community. The Executive has taken Futures Forum recommendations on board. This could be another example of Scotland in the vanguard." The strategy has also been welcomed by older people's charities and groups such as Age Concern Scotland, Help the Aged and the Scottish Pensioners' Forum. David Manion, Chief Executive of Age Concern Scotland, said: "If people want to know how older age will look in the future, they should ask today's older people. The Executive has done that and the result is a forward-looking, radical and comprehensive new look at changing how we, as a nation, view old age and the challenge of an older population profile." "Age Concern Scotland worked very closely with the Executive on the development of this strategy and is pleased to be associated with what will be a defining public policy approach for future generations." Liz Duncan of Help the Aged in Scotland said: "This is another major step along the long road towards making Scotland a truly barrier-free and tolerant society. It puts in place a framework for the challenges ahead and as such is a timely addition to the tools we have at present." "This strategy should enable us to enjoy the contributions of the older members of our communities, now and into the future." Irene Sweeney of the Scottish Pensioners' Forum said: "This is an excellent document which will be welcomed by most pensioners". "It is the first time that older people have been consulted and had real input into such a strategy and that is what makes it special." "It is what older people want - not what society thinks we want." "It sets out a framework for the next 20 years and we expect the Parliament, the Executive and all the other bodies to deliver on the vision and commitments outlined in it." Cllr Charles Gray, COSLA Older Persons' Spokesperson, said: "I am delighted at the publication of this strategy. As COSLA's Older Persons' Spokesperson I have been acutely conscious that, until now, we lacked evidence of Scottish Executive commitment to our older people and the issues that affect them." "While the strategy represents the culmination of more than a year's very hard work by very many people, the real challenge in implementing its recommendations, is only just beginning. COSLA looks forward to playing a full part in that work." Further details can be obtained from here: http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Publications/2007/03/08125028/0 ; http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Resource/Doc/169342/0047172.pdf . [Section Two ends]. ++ Section Three: 3rd European Silver Economy Conference 2007 - The Silver Generation Driving Europe – Seville, Spain, 15/16 November 2007. The Ministry of Equality and Social Welfare of the Junta de Andalusia (Andalusian Regional Government) is organising the 3rd SEN@ER Conference (Silver Economy Network of European Regions) to be held in Seville, Spain, on 15 and 16 November 2007. In continuation of the previous SEN@ER conferences held in Bonn and Maastricht, the Seville Conference, once again, sets out to encourage businesses and institutions to collaborate in developing and implementing new products and care for services for the elderly. The Seville Conference will focus on 4 key areas: - New Technology and Independence; - Tourism and Culture; - Nutrition; - Financial Services. The Seville Conference shall serve as an international forum to discuss, exchange ideas and get inspired on the Silver Economy’s challenges to improve the quality of life and independence of the Silver Generation and seize opportunities for economic growth, employment and regional competitiveness. Participants can register, speakers can propose papers and entities can present their proposals for the Silver Economy in Europe - Best Practice Award 2007 directly on the conference website or download de corresponding forms: http://www.silvereconomy2007.com . + Preliminary conference information at one glance (consolidated programme available by end of June): Date and Place of Conference: 15/16 November 2007 | Palacio de Exposiciones y Congresos | Seville, Spain. Accommodation: The Conference Management shall propose a number of hotels in the heart of Seville as well as close to the conference venue at different price levels. Transport between Seville City Centre and the venue shall be provided. Taxis are available. Social Programme: An attractive social programme for participants and guests, partly included in the admission fee shall be organised to accompany the conference programme, including a farewell cocktail in Seville’s famous Alcázar, a boat trip party on the Rio Guadalquivir, a Flamenco show and other activities that will surely permit enchanting encounters with the Andalusian culture. Expected Results: The conference organisers, in cooperation with its SEN@ER partners, sets out to obtain the following results from the Seville Conference: - Increased information flow within the network and relevant actors of the Silver Economy through the design and permanent distribution of a digital publication and the development of other communication tools. - Affiliation of the regions that have expressed their intention to join the network as new members of the SEN@ER Network. - Publication on the results of the conference including papers, conclusions, sponsors, participants. A specific strategy for proper dissemination is being established. - Signing of a Memorandum of Understanding between representatives of the Public Authorities, Organisations representing the Silver Generation and Representatives of the Economy. - Introduction of a system whereby companies can associate on a long-term basis with the SEN@ER Network. - The workshop participants establish or declare their intention to establish mixed joint ventures or consortia of industry and public institutions for the purpose of piloting innovative products or services in order to seek development support from the European Commission. - Receive concrete pledges or at least declarations of intent from the European Commission for policy support and funding of coordinated cooperative actions of the European Regions. Methodology: The Seville Conference will pursue these objectives through: Plenary Sessions: In plenary sessions, open to all participants, new, interdisciplinary currents of general interest are dealt with in keynote speeches by high-level political and business representatives as well renowned experts. Workshops: Our workshops are equally open to all conference participants, but shall deal with more specific and technical topics on a smaller scale. One chairperson shall moderate round tables or direct panel discussions which are fed with expert contributions; results are summarised by a rapporteur. VIP sessions: The VIP sessions are closed meetings of high-level experts and stakeholders which are intended to materialise the results of the plenary sessions and workshops into concrete results, such as international or regional cooperation agreements between industry, government and NGOs, project proposals etc. VIP sessions are composed upon demand prior to the conference or can be set up spontaneously in the course of the conference. Best Practices Award: The Best Practices Award for outstanding and innovative ideas shall motivate potential participants to present their ideas as well as inspire creative minds to develop projects, products and services that meet the objectives of the SEN@ER network. Exhibition Area: The exhibition area at the conference venue shall serve as a permanent meeting point for networking as well as presenting and learning about new trends and products. Target Participants: On the Seville Conference will bring together representatives from the following groups: - Politicians, public social managers involved with policies affecting senior citizens. - Scientists, researchers and experts on the relevant issues. - Managers and professionals attending senior citizens groups that do or do not depend on the public, private and tertiary sectors. - Persons responsible from entities for the management of the System for Personal Autonomy and Dependency Care (departments, directorate-generals, autonomous and state bodies, centres of reference, etc.). - Private entities specialising in developing and introducing products for the elderly. - Foundations that finance and promote activities of social, educational, cultural and scientific nature by means of Community Based Projects. - University research departments for issues related to the elderly (technology, psychology, health, etc). - Interested communities (professional associations, users associations, networks, etc). For more information please visit: http://www.silvereconomy2007.com/ . [Section Three ends]. ++ Section Four: Reports from the SEN@ER Network and the SEN@ER Secretariat. +12: Successful SOPRANO EU Project Kick-off meeting - next generation technology for elderly care. SOPRANO was officially launched at Tunstall's world headquarters in Whitley Bridge, Yorkshire on the 1st February 2007, and was attended by 40 delegates from the UK and European partner organisations. The SOPRANO project resulted from a successful proposal submission to the European Commission’s IST Programme which is part of the Framework Programme 6. It includes partners from three SEN@ER regions cooperating in the development of independent living services. It is an Integrated Project (IP) which started in early 2007. SOPRANO is the acronym for "Service Oriented PRogrammable smArt enviroNments for Older Europeans". SOPRANO will design and develop highly innovative, context-aware, smart services with natural and comfortable interfaces for older people at affordable cost, meeting requirements of users, family and care providers and significantly extending the time we can live independently in our homes when older. User friendliness and acceptability is top priority for the project - a zero-slope learning curve is to be achieved and inter-faces are to "vanish" into domestic settings. Large-scale viability in real homes will be demonstrated with 600 users to raise public awareness and accelerate AAL (Ambient Assisted Living) exploitation. A consortium of 20 partners from European universities, public bodies and private companies is teaming up to develop next-generation technology to allow older people to continue to live independent lives in their own homes. The part-EU funded Service Orientated Programmable Smart Environments for Older Europeans (SOPRANO) project will seek to develop information technology (IT) -based assisted living services aimed at promoting the independence of older people, improving their quality of life and addressing the issue of an ageing European population. Mike Hodges, the Research and Development Director at Tunstall, the private company leading the research project, said: 'Against a background of accelerating demographic ageing across Europe, the latest telecare and telehealth solutions will play a pivotal role in helping to relieve some of the growing pressure on healthcare providers. Tunstall is proud to be leading this cutting-edge project which is addressing these key issues.' The project will demonstrate how telecare technology, Information Technology (IT) and mobile communications can be harnessed to develop new community-based models of care and support. The research hopes to advance global knowledge in semantic IT, Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) location, remote diagnostics, radar and integration architectures. 600 users will test the large-scale viability of these technologies in real homes. The project will have two goals: to develop new ways of integrating assistive technology, telecare and telehealth solutions into users' homes to provide assistance; and to investigate the motor, sensory and cognitive difficulties experienced by older people and the best vision, voice or sensory-based means of communicating with users. By integrating assistive technology with advanced telecare and telehealth solutions, SOPRANO hopes to develop a fully networked home environment. Integrated appliances and devices will support users in carrying out their everyday activities, and advanced telecare and telehealth solutions will monitor health and well-being and ensure that assistance is provided when required. Mike Hodges added: 'the low-level, round-the-clock care provided by telecare technology such as this offers a cost-effective alternative to traditional care, while also ensuring users get the support they need in the familiarity of their home environment.' The project will run for 40 months and its budget is around 12 million Euros of which 7 million are funded by the Commission. The project will be coordinated by the Tunstall Group Ltd (United Kingdom) and has a total of 25 partners from all over Europe. SEN@ER partners from three SEN@ER regions take part in this project: Andalucia (FASS Fundación Andaluza de Servicios Sociales), North Rhine-Westphalia (PROSYST SOFTWARE GMBH, empirica GmbH) and Scotland (West Lothian Council). In these SEN@ER regions SO-PRANO fields trials will be carried out and demonstrators installed. For more information, please visit: http://www.soprano-ip.org/ . +13: European proposal "I3L - Interoperability Initiative for Independent Living and Ageing Well in Europe" submitted together with SEN@ER partners. Another European proposal involving several SEN@ER partner regions and partners has been developed and submitted to the recent call of the FP7 ICT programme with the deadline of 8 May 2007. The proposal "I3L - Interoperability Initiative for Independent Living and Ageing Well in Europe" involves the following SENER partners from - North Rhine-Westphalia: -- Evangelisches Johanneswerk e.V., -- Evangelisches Krankenhaus Bielefeld, -- Johanneswerk im Stadtteil GmbH. - Andalucia: -- Fundación Andaluza de Servicios Sociales (FASS), -- Andalusian Centre for Innovation ITC. - Scotland: West Lothian Council. Dr. Claus Eppe, MGFFI NRW (SEN@ER lead partner region representative) is foreseen as the SEN@ER representative on the I3L Advisory Board. The proposal has been developed against the background of demographic ageing across Europe, accelerating costs of care provision and as yet unexploited capabilities of open ICT systems. It aims to provide open platforms of proven ability to support high quality independent living and wellbeing for older people across Europe and beyond. Significant advance in service and device interoperation is to be achieved in three iterations. Evidence of effectiveness is to be obtained through field trials spanning 9 sites in 7 countries and involving 1500 older users. This scale and geographic reach is essential to have impact across Europe and provide investment decision-makers and policy-makers with detailed analysis of the effectiveness of I3L conformant services and systems. Involvement of key industry players, close links with the Continua Alliance and highly visible demonstration will help ensure rapid take up of consensus solutions to current interoperability problems at all levels, with major impact on independent living for older people and the care systems which support them throughout Europe. Against the background of demographic ageing across Europe, accelerating costs of care provision and as yet unexploited capabilities of open ICT systems, the project aims to provide open platforms of proven ability to support high quality independent living and wellbeing for older people across Europe and beyond. Significant advance in service and device interoperation is to be achieved in three iterations. Evidence of effectiveness is to be obtained through field trials spanning 9 sites in 7 countries and involving 1500 older users. This scale and geographic reach is essential to have impact across Europe and provide investment decision-makers and policy-makers with detailed analysis of the effectiveness of I3L conformant services and systems. Involvement of key industry players, close links with the Continua Alliance and highly visible demonstration will help ensure rapid take up of consensus solutions to current interoperability problems. For more information, please contact the SEN@ER Secretariat: mailto:sener@empirica.com . +14: European proposal "BeIn4Europe - Better use of Policy Indicators for Europe" submitted together with SEN@ER partners. A second European proposal involving partners from the SEN@ER partner region North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) has been developed and submitted to the recent call of the FP7 SSH programme with the deadline of 10 May 2007. The proposal proposal submitted is entitled "BeIn4Europe - Better use of Policy Indicators for Europe". It involves partners from different countries and regions including North Rhine-Westphalia. BeIn4Europe will focus on optimising the use of indicators, analytical methods and presentation formats for empirical results in policy processes. It will proceed in a twofold way: firstly, the recent practice of EU policy indicators use in policy development will be systematically reviewed, key drawbacks will be identified and solutions proposed. Since policy observation and monitoring often uses inadequate tools, the project will focus on the use of analysis methodologies to support indicator development and their visualisation and presentation in highly appealing formats easy to grasp by politicians and the public. This will include the time distance approach to policy indicators, which is seen as an essential component for the presentation of any policy indicator. A further stream of methodological improvement will include addressing the simultaneous observation of several policy indicators at a time, to be achieved through the use of multivariate analysis methodologies and the construction of compound measures. Secondly, the application of the proposed methodological improvements - compiled into a stand-alone toolkit - will be implemented in two inter-related policy fields - social inclusion and eInclusion, areas of high relevance for the SEN@ER network. These are key areas of importance for the achievement of the objectives of the EU's Lisbon agenda, where social inclusion is one of the main pillars. In order to ensure widest possible awareness, the partners will already within the project lifetime organise stakeholder dialogues with experts, producers of statistics in Europe, policy makers and engage these key players in an online dialogue and in workshops to be organised for that purpose in close collaboration with the EC DGs, relevant Joint Research Centres, Eurostat and national statistical agencies from the Member States. In addition, a whole series of publications will be developed and several means of public relations implemented. For more information, please contact the SEN@ER Secretariat: mailto: sener@empirica.com . +15: 2nd SEN@ER European Commission Funding Programmes Briefing Workshop on 20 June 2007 at the Ministry for Intergenerational Affairs, Family, Women and Integration of North Rhine-Westfalia, Düsseldorf. Ministry for Intergenerational Affairs, Family, Women and Integration of North Rhine-Westfalia together with the "Silver Economy Network of European Regions (SEN@ER)" (www.silvereconomy-europe.org) - is organising the second SEN@ER European Commission Funding Programmes Briefing Workshop. At the workshop relevant new funding programmes of the European Commission running from 2007 - 2013 which offer opportunities to regions will be introduced for obtaining funding for a variety of different activities in the topic areas ‘Silver Economy’, ‘Independent Living and Ageing Well’ and ‘ICT and Ageing’ which they would like to carry out with partners from other European regions. The focus will be on the new Interreg IV programme with an expected first call for proposals to be launched in autumn 2007. The workshop is aimed at representatives from (health and social) service providers, housing organisations, Software and IT industry and telecommunications, software organisations, universities and research institutions with experience in IT development and EC funding programmes etc. from the SEN@ER partner regions but also individuals and organisations with concrete ideas and interests for European projects in the above topic areas. More information: mailto:sener@empirica.com . +16: International Herald Tribune: In Europe, care for the elderly is being transformed. The English language daily newspaper, the International Herald Tribune, recently published a feature on the care situation in Europe. Following the simple thesis "Old age in Europe is not what it used to be" the article provides an overview of the changed situation of today's older people in Europe. Besides well-known facts about population ageing in general and the changed lifestyles and habits of the generation 60+ it also points to a number of interesting projects from different EU countries. Also never mentioned explicitly, the article refers to the Silver Economy throughout, describing various products and services for older people ranging from smart-home technology to financial services. The article is available from: http://www.iht.com/articles/2007/04/13/business/wbelder.php . [Section Four ends], ++ Section Five: European Union. +17: New website of the ICT Policy Support Programme launched. The ICT Policy Support Programme (ICT PSP) is a component of the Competitiveness and Innovation Framework Programme (CIP). The ICT PSP aims at stimulating innovation and competitiveness through the wider uptake and best use of ICT by citizens, governments and businesses and will run between 2007 and 2013. The new website of the programme has just been launched. More information is available at: http://ec.europa.eu/information_society/activities/ict_psp/index_en.htm . +18: Workshop on possible Themes for the CIP ICT Work Programme 2008. The purpose of the workshop which took place on 15 May 2007 in Brussels was to bring together a number of relevant stakeholders for the consultation of eInclusion themes within the 2008 Work Programme for ICT Policy Support deployment programme. ICT PSP is a component of the CIP (Competitiveness and Innovation) Framework. Themes explored included: - Overview of the ICT PSP programme; - Accessible Convergent Communications - Total Conversation; - EU wide assisted navigation for people with disabilities and the elderly; - Advanced technology applied to assistive devices and services; - New services for aging well; - Public websites accessibility; - Topic(s) suggested by the participants. More information: http://ec.europa.eu/information_society/policy/accessibility/eincl/deploy/index_en.htm . +19: CIP Programme ICT PSP Workshop on Theme 2 "ICT for accessibility, ageing and social integration" opened in Call 1. The ICT Policy Support Programme (ICT PSP) is a component of the Competitiveness and Innovation Framework Programme (CIP). The objective of the workshop was to bring together stakeholders interested in Call 1 of the new deployment programme ICT Policy Support in particular as regards the topics listed under Theme 2 "ICT for accessibility, ageing and social integration". A whole part of the workshop dealt with the Objective 2.2: ICT for ageing well (Pilot B) of the Call and was aimed at setting the scene and discussing regional examples on "ICT for aging well". This workshop was organised in conjunction with a general launching event for the ICT PSP, which also tool place on the 24th of May 2007 in Brussels. More information: http://ec.europa.eu/information_society/policy/accessibility/eincl/deploy/call1_wksp/index_en.htm ; http://ec.europa.eu/enterprise/enterprise_policy/cip/index_en.htm . +20: European Commission DG EMPL Call for Proposals: ENEA Preparatory Action on Active Ageing and Mobility of Elderly People. In 2007, the General Budget of the European Union includes under heading 04 03 06 a commitment appropriation for an open call for proposals regarding the "ENEA preparatory action on active ageing and mobility of elderly people". The purpose of the call is to fund a limited number of projects that promote active ageing, including access to the labour market, and measures encouraging the establishment of exchange programmes for the elderly through specialised organisations. Key activities to be carried out under this call should take the form of: - international exchange programmes aimed at promoting the employment of older workers; - international exchange programmes aimed at promoting the active involvement of older men and women as volunteers working for the general interest; - good practice projects which support active ageing and involvement of older women and men who have moved to another Member State or are envisaging to do so. The call is open to any public or private legal entity established in the Member States of the European Union. Proposals may be developed and implemented by a partnership which includes participants from several Member States. The applicant and its partners must be non-profit organisations. A total amount of EUR 3.000.000 is foreseen for this preparatory action. The Commission expects to award 4 to 10 grants. Projects must start in 2007 and be normally completed within 24 months; the maximum duration must not exceed 36 months. The deadline for the submission of applications is 13 July 2007. For further information on eligible measures, eligible applicants, co-financing amounts^and other rules, please consult the complete set of instructions to applicants on the following website: http://ec.europa.eu/employment_social/emplweb/tenders/index_calls_en.cfm . +21: i2010 - A European Information Society for growth and employment Benchmarking plays a central role in measuring progress on i2010 priorities. As i2010 succeeded the eEurope initiative, benchmarking indicators were revised and the new benchmarking framework was endorsed by the i2010 High Level Group in April 2006. The review had been carried out in a series of workshops with representatives of national statistical offices and information society policy specialists from the member states. Benchmarking results for i2010 can be found in the i2010 Annual Report 2007. More information and download: of the i2010 Annual Reports 2007 and 2006: http://ec.europa.eu/information_society/eeurope/i2010/annual_report/index_en.htm . The "Benchmarking in a policy perspective" launched by the European Commission in 2006 as part of the i2010 initiative has recently completed several studies: 1. Reorganisation of business processes; 2. Use of broadband; 3. Take up of advanced services; 4. Use of public services on line (including e-Government and eHealth); 5. e-inclusion. More information and download: http://ec.europa.eu/information_society/eeurope/i2010/benchmarking/index_en.htm . Also as part of the i2010 initiative the study "Benchmarking Access and Use of ICT in European Schools" was recently completed and published together with the 27 country briefs. The study was based on a pan-European survey which revealed that more than 2/3 of the EU’s schools benefit from high-speed internet. Surfing the web as well as virtual communication and training methods are becoming more and more a daily experience in Europe’s school. However, there are still important variations from one Member State to another. "Europe is starting to reap the benefits of broadband at schools, where the foundations are laid for a knowledge-based society," said Information Society and Media Commissioner Viviane Reding. "I congratulate those EU countries which, on the basis of an efficient implementation of EU rules, have promoted competition in broadband services and infrastructures and thereby are now also generating encouraging results for their education systems. Broadband internet access can become one of the most efficient drivers for both economic and social competitiveness". Ján Figel’, Commissioner for Education, Culture and Multilingualism, added: "Digital competence is one of the eight key competences proposed by the Commission in a Recommendation last year, underlining the utmost importance of this issue for the modernisation of Europe’s educational and training systems. Following the results of this survey, the Commission urges those countries which are lagging behind to intensify their efforts in the interest of their young generations." The survey published by the Commission shows that 96% of all schools in Europe have internet access today, and 67% already have a broadband connection. However, broadband take-up still varies widely in Europe, from about 90% of schools in Scandinavian countries, in the Netherlands, Estonia and Malta to under 35% in Greece, Poland, Cyprus, and Lithuania. In the US, 95% of public schools had a broadband connection in 2003. More information and download: http://ec.europa.eu/information_society/eeurope/i2010/benchmarking/index_en.htm . [Section Five ends]. ++ Section Six: Conferences, Projects, Miscellaneous. +22: Conference proceedings from the "2nd European Silver Economy Conference" are now available. The conference brochure summarising key results from the above conference has now become available under the title "Today’s youth, tomorrow’s senior citizens". During the conference Silver Economy in Europe 2006 experts and enthusiastic participants brought a number of ideas and initiatives to the table. The conference was organised in collaboration with SEN@ER - Silver Economy Network of European Regions. Ths brochure looks back at the topics that were discussed during the conference. But it also looks forward. A stimulation group headed by Martin Eurlings translates the results to Limburg's silver agenda and to practical solutions for businesses, and educational and regional prevention and health care organisations. In regional quality networks and in the international context of European regions, European regions are working hard to create the necessary conditions for a healthy and sustainable regional economy. Download of brochure: http://www.silvereconomy-europe.org/events/2006/index.htm . Download of conference presentations: http://silvereconomy2006.nl/ . +23: Conference proceedings "Regional Policy Responses to Demographic Challenges". The brochure containing the summary proceedings of the conference "Regional Policy Responses to Demographic Challenges" on 25 and 26 January is now available in English and including 28 pages. This brochure outlines the discussion during the various plenary sessions as well as summaries of the nine workshops dealing with different aspects of the demographic challenge and in particular giving examples of projects funded by cohesion instruments. The hard copy of the brochure contains the full set of conference materials as well as edited video highlights from the plenary sessions. Download at: http://ec.europa.eu/regional_policy/conferences/demographicchallenge_jan07/sources_en.cfm?nmenu=8 . +24: SEN@ER at the European Congress on "Demographic Change as Opportunity: The Economic Potential of the Elderly" on April 17-18, 2007 in Berlin. Under the framework of the German EU Presidency, the Federal Ministry for Family Affairs, Senior Citizens, Women and Youth and the European Commission have co-sponsored the European Congress "Demographic Change as Opportunity: The Economic Potential of the Elderly". At the congress in the Berlin Congress Centre (bcc), well-known policy experts and specialists from the business, research, and private sectors have come together to discuss the challenges and opportunities of demographic change with high-level representatives of the EU Commission. The aim of the congress was to further pursue the European discourse about demographic changes. The special focus of the congress was on the economic power of senior citizens. Older people can make an important contribution to growth and economic development, not only with their know-how and voluntary commitments, but also with their buying power. The SEN@ER network was presented with a stand. More information is available online at: http://www.bmfsfj.de . +25: Conference "Social and Economic Benefits of Inclusive Technology". Mainstream technology is quite able to encompass the functionalities which are currently provided by a few specialist manufacturers, not only for disabled people but also the growing aged population. The vast majority of the population could also find such functionalities useful. This conference will discuss these issues and produce outcomes indicating the profitability to mainstream suppliers and the National Economy. It will also indicate lines of research to increase people's abilities, giving freedom of choice and decreasing the burden on carers. The objective of the conference is to produce a White Paper, demonstrating the social and economic benefits of inclusive technology to the Government and the IT Industry. The event is organised by the British Computer Society and will take place from 23 October 2007 - 25 October 2007 in Inverurie, United Kingdom. More information is available online at: http://www.bcs.org/server.php?show=nav.8987 . +26: New Project: CAALYX - Complete Ambient Assisted Living. Older people’s autonomy and self-confidence can be greatly increased by wearing a light device that measure vital signs, detect falls, and automatically raise an alert to their care centre in case of an emergency. More information: ICT for Health - all projects factsheets: http://ec.europa.eu/information_society/activities/health/research/projects/index_en.htm . Project factsheet: http://ec.europa.eu/information_society/activities/health/docs/projects/fp6book/caalyx-c6.pdf . Contact: mailto:eHealth@ec.europa.eu . +27: New Project: OLDES - Older People's e-services at home. The number of elderly people is increasing significantly and rapidly in all EU countries, creating substantial problems in terms of resources needed for assisting them. OLDES aims to plan and develop a technological, cheap and easy to use platform for tele-assistance and tele-company, thanks to the joint work of 11 EU partners. More information: ICT for Health - all projects factsheets: http://ec.europa.eu/information_society/activities/health/research/projects/index_en.htm . Project factsheet: http://ec.europa.eu/information_society/activities/health/docs/projects/fp6book/oldes-c6.pdf. Contact: mailto:eHealth@ec.europa.eu . +28: New Project: EMERGE - Emergency Monitoring and Prevention. EMERGE intends to model the typical behaviour of elderly people with medical risks following an integrated approach that uses ambient and unobtrusive sensors, in order to detect deviations from typical behaviour, reason on acute disorders, and prevent emergencies. More information: ICT for Health - all projects factsheets: http://ec.europa.eu/information_society/activities/health/research/projects/index_en.htm . Project factsheet: http://ec.europa.eu/information_society/activities/health/docs/projects/fp6book/emerge-c6.pdf . See also: www.emerge-project.eu Contact: mailto:eHealth@ec.europa.eu . +29: Be Part of It - eInclusion Discussion and Information site launched. Share your e-Inclusion experiences; discuss what's needed with other stakeholders; see what's happening in other countries; contribute to the workshops highlighted in this newsletter. Realising the European e-inclusion objectives is a challenge, to say the least. It requires rich information, sense-making and understanding, imagination, dedication, cooperation and sharing. We have therefore decided to support this by setting up an experimental, wiki-based site where sharing and cooperation can be stimulated. You will find here reports about national experiences and state-of-play, discussions on specific e-inclusion themes, and - hopefully - a lot of other interesting things to discover. Use it to share your creativity and experiences. More information is available online at: http://www.ipolicy.eu . [Section Six ends]. ++ End Notes. +30: 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 for Intergenerational Affairs, Family, Women and Integration of North Rhine-Westfalia Dr. Claus Eppe Head of Unit Silver Economy, Media Competence Horionplatz 1, D-40213 Düsseldorf 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 für 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: sener@empirica.com http://www.empirica.com/ http://www.silvereconomy-europe.org/ . +31: 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: sener@empirica.com. We apologize for any inconveniences caused by cross-postings or unsolicited mailings. +32: Copyright notice. Copyright 2007 Silver Economy Network of European Regions http://www.silvereconomy-europe.org/, mailto: sener@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. +33: 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].