Europe is ageing. Eurostat projections foresee that the number of people over 65 is expected to grow 28.5 percent by 2050. According to the World Health Organization, physical and social environments are key determinants of whether people can remain healthy, independent and autonomous long into their old age, which makes housing an important factor in active and healthy ageing. However, a large part of the EU’s housing stock is not designed to accommodate older people’s needs.

The Erasmus + project “DESIgn for all methods to cREate age-friendly housing” (DESIRE) is dedicated to this topic, and InnoRenew CoE is one of five project partners.

“In this project, we want to create a website that will bring together experts from different fields in order to use the principles and methods of Design for All to create friendly living environments for older adults,” Nastja Podrekar Loredan, InnoRenew CoE research assistant, said.

“We are developing learning content, training and education that will be intended for both students and already employed professionals and will help to raise awareness and empower the profession with knowledge about design for all,” she added.

Currently, the researchers have completed the first part of the project, in which they analyzed the learning content at educational institutions and found that the principles and methods of Design for All are not consistently included in the pedagogical process.

More about the project’s recent activities can be found in the article PROJEKT DESIRE: Ergonomsko oblikovanje bivalnih okolij za starejše odrasle published at the online portal Reginal Obala.

More information about the project can be found here.