2013 Press Releases
Irish project improves Euro QOL
Ireland will play a central role in European efforts to add two healthy years of life to each citizen by 2020, thanks to a UCC/Louth Age Friendly County Initiative collaboration.
COLLAGE (Collaboration on Ageing) has just been awarded a 3-Star rating in Brussels for its bid to become a reference site for others to base best practice on through the groundbreaking European Programme on Active and Healthy Ageing. A shared vision of enhancing the experience of ageing and realising the potential of an ageing population brought together all of the supporting initiatives and institutions to form COLLAGE, led by UCC and the Louth Age Friendly County Initiative.
Through the European Innovation Partnership, the European Commission aims to enhance European competitiveness and tackle societal challenges through research and innovation. The European Commission has identified active and healthy ageing as a major societal challenge common to all European countries, and an area which presents considerable potential for Europe to lead the world in providing innovative responses to this challenge.
The European Innovation Partnership on Active and Healthy Ageing will pursue a triple win for Europe by:
- Enabling EU citizens to lead healthy, active and independent lives while ageing
- Improving the sustainability and efficiency of social and health care systems
- Boosting and improving the competitiveness of the markets for innovative products and services, responding to the ageing challenge at both EU and global level, thus creating new opportunities for businesses
Professor George Shorten, Dean, School of Medicine at UCC commented: ‘The target of this pilot partnership will be to increase the average healthy lifespan of Europeans by two years by 2020. This unique collaboration will achieve this by providing key stakeholders with the means to cooperate, united around a common vision that values older people and their contribution to society.’
The COLLAGE initiative reflects the breadth and depth of shared knowledge, experience and good practice which in turn offers the potential to improve lives, enhance society and create employment.