Projects related to the Longevity Economy and the Silver Economy are growing by the day, as awareness of their importance for a future in which the over-65s will account for around 30% of the world's population increases. But as the experts who took part in this week's roundtable on ageing at the Collaborative Circular Economy event, organised by the global innovation, networking and business development platform FreedomeE (@e_freedome) in London, point out, there are few occasions when these initiatives come together in the same forum to exchange ideas on "how to write a future for the elderly".

Moderated by the Longevity expert, president of the Age Friendly Portugal business association and renowned influencer, Ana João Sepulveda, experts from countries as diverse as the United Kingdom, the United States, Brazil, Spain and Portugal gathered under the same virtual table at the British Parliament in London to present the most innovative senior projects. From the representative of Madeira's policies for the elderly, to startups to help the over 50s find employment, to media such as the online newspaper 65Ymás.com, "the voice of the seniors in Spain".

Putting Longevity on the agenda

"It is very important to have a focus on longevity on the agenda, to meet other professionals who are working on it from other parts of the world and to establish contact. Great things are being done locally, but they are not always known," says Mórris Litvak, founder of the Maturi project, which focuses on the inclusion of senior talent in the workplace in Brazil. Meanwhile, Suzanne Noble, co-director of the British startup School for Seniors and the senior cohousing platform Nestful, believes that efforts should be focused on innovation "and not simply on replicating projects", because there is ample room for this.

"We believe that seniors already play a decisive role, contributing almost half of the world's consumption, or because of their importance in politics or social issues in the midst of transformation. They are concerned not only about their health but also about how they will be the homes of the future or their role in new technologies. And we want to be there to listen to them and learn about a new future that has yet to be written," says Marta Jurado, editor of the newspaper 65Ymás. "It is time to transform the challenge of ageing and longevity into an opportunity and not see the elderly as a cost," says Bruno Seara, from the communications agency Comunicas Portugal. 

Science, Big Data and institutions, at the service of the  older generation

From the institutional side, Anne Rizzo, director of Age Friendly Ireland (@AgeFriendlyIrl), considers it essential to involve governments, companies and new entrepreneurs in sustainable and inclusive businesses for everyone, including the elderly, who in her opinion have shown a great capacity for resilience during the Covid pandemic: "We need to get involved not only in health issues, but also in creating new living spaces, places for healthy ageing and to get them on the agenda", she says. The same opinion is held by Ana Clara Silva, Minister of Health and Social Affairs of the Regional Government of Madeira (@GovernoMadeira). "We have to see ageing as something positive and with multiple opportunities for many sectors, including local administrations. 

And the most innovative projects such as that of the neuroscientist from the University of Lisbon, Hugo Ferreira, founder of NeuroPsyAI, specialising in studying the evolution of the brain and how technology and Big Data can help to improve people's lives through algorithms; or that of the strategic advisor of the UK-based consultancy Oxygen Consulting, Ray Algar, focused on research into cities of the future and global fitness. Finally, the former European director of the United Nations tobacco programme, Dr Rachel Melson, called for the integration of medical, architectural and pension projects to create new solutions for the new generations of elderly people through the Silver Linen Competitions.