Welcome to Wise Connections
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As we grow older, the opportunities to keep growing our creative capabilities and participate in social, cultural and economic life are reduced. Wise Connections is a project that aims to create ways to trigger socio-cultural interactions (‘seeds’) that grow ‘places’ within homes, public or professional spaces where people feel empowered to discover, integrate and develop what they value to do or be.
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Background |
Who we are |
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As people grow older, they progressively become more marginalised and excluded socially and economically, as they have decreased opportunities to actively participate in activities and places that have a social, cultural and/or productive power. Social participation, labour force participation and independent living are three key pillars for sustaining or enhancing active and creative living. Research suggests that active and creative living is a key factor for the health and wellbeing of individuals as they are ageing, but also a key factor for the quality of life and wellbeing of their families, the society and economy at large. So how do we support active and ‘creative ageing’?
Existing approaches tend to focus on older people’s deficits, their reduced health and wellbeing, reduced mobility, reduced access or ability to access technology etc and seek to explore how to alleviate negative impacts. However, we argue that a new approach is needed which taps into the strengths of older people, their accumulated wisdom, their experience, knowledge and skills, and ultimately recognises and enhances the value of their contribution in society, culture, the environment and the economy. Read more on our Blog. |
Wise Connections is a collaboration between the Open University (OU), Local Learning, Alive, and the Age of Creativity network (AgeUK Oxfordshire).
The project builds on previous research projects where we worked with older people across different contexts, with an emphasis on supporting these people to engage creatively in shaping their environment and life. The academics from the OU involved are Theodore Zamenopoulos, Professor of Citizen-led Design, Katerina Alexiou, Senior Lecturer in Design and Tot Foster, Research Associate. The partners are: Ruth Myers and Pete Insole (Local Learning), Farrell Renowden (AgeUK Oxfordshire and the Age of Creativity network) and Georgina Densley (Alive). FundersThe project is funded through UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) Healthy Ageing Catalyst Awards programme in 2022. For this programme, UKRI partnered with Zinc to fund entrepreneurial academics who want to translate their research into impactful and scalable products, services and interventions.
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as we grow older, it is important for our wellbeing to keep growing our creative capabilities to participate in social, cultural and economic life. This catalyst project aims to create opportunities for people as they grow older to re-discover and integrate into their life what they value to do or be.
Contact us
For any questions about the project, or to get involved, contact theodore.zamenopoulos AT open.ac.uk
