Description

The Netherlands and North Macedonia have had a collaboration in this field since 2022, which forms the basis for this proposal. Partners of Mother Teresa University in Skopje (MTU) have asked for joining our efforts: the Institute for Social Activities in Skopje sees the age-friendly agenda and research at THUAS as a logical next step for a better understanding and representation of all subgroups in their ethnically diverse city. Universities in bordering nations, including Kosovo and Albania, have indicated their interest to join efforts during the annual Towards Sustainable Development Conference in Skopje. They called for the existing research and capacity-building efforts at MTU to be extended to other parts of the Western Balkans. This includes Tuzla in Bosnia and Herzegovina, which joined the network in 2023. It is currently the only member city in the Western Balkans (Figure 2), with Podgorica having plans to join.

The four actions points for the ABC Network project are:

1. Generate knowledge and action: improve the knowledge base around age-friendly environments as well as the translation of knowledge into evidence-based action across AFCC networks and programmes, including for impact evaluation of programmes and interventions;
2. Be inclusive: eliminate barriers for participation and exchange, including language and geographic barriers, to improve accessibility and overall member experience;
3. Expand reach: support and promote efforts towards developing and strengthening national and sub-national AFCC programmes, in particular in low- and middle-income countries;
4. Build capacity: foster mentoring activities and peer-to-peer learning on age-friendly environments across relevant stakeholders (policymakers, professionals, civil society organizations, media, private sector etc).

The project is warmly supported by the World Health Organization.

The Age-friendly Balkans Connected Network seeks to (1) form regional knowledge and action eco-systems through further capacity-building in the Western Balkans, and (2) provide regional cities with an instrument for a baseline assessment of the age-friendliness. The Network, its ecosystems and tools, are a resource for making action plans, decision making and implementation concerning age-friendliness, as well as serve as a sustainable past performance in future grant applications.

AFE Related Topics

Partners

Project coordinator:

• The Hague University of Applied Sciences, The Netherlands

Project partners:

• AFEdemy, The Netherlands
• University Mother Teresa, North Macedonia
• University of Split, Croatia
• University of Novi Sad, Serbia
• University of Montenegro, Montenegro
• University of Tirana, Albania
• University of Tuzla, Bosnia and Herzegovina
• University of Mostar, Bosnia and Herzegovina
• University of Prishtina, Kosovo

Planned results

• Formats & procedures for mutual learning visits; Written best practices on cross-cultural research design.
• Updated manual for data collection and statistics (English); Top-up questions for consortium partners; Individual quantitative local and joint reports on the age-friendliness of the cities; National versions of the AFCCQ.