Name of your initiative:
Durango, ciudad amigable con las personas mayores / Durango, Age-Friendy City
Short name (acronym):
Website title and address:
Durango, Age Friendly CityWhich organization is submitting this initiative?:
University of Deusto
Please specify in which regions/provinces:
ESPAÑA›NORESTE›País Vasco›VizcayaCity:
Durango
Where is this organization located?:
Spain
Please enter the name of the contact person for this initiative:
Pedro Ferández de Larrinoa
Please enter the email of the contact for this initiative:
pedro.larrinoa@deusto.esPart of larger strategy or programme:
Regional
If you answered "other", please specify:
Please provide us with more details of this programme or strategy:
The city of Durango (Biscay, Basque Country) has recently become the second municipality in Biscay (Bilbao was the first) to join the World Health Organization’s Global Network of Age Friendly Cities and Communities. The initiative coordinated by the WHO aims at helping cities and communities to become age-friendly by looking at eight dimensions: housing, transportation, outdoor spaces and buildings, community support and health services, communication and information, civic participation and employment, respect and social inclusion, and social participation.
The Durango, age-friendly city initiative started two years ago with the collaboration of one research team of the University of Deusto, Ageing Research, which undertook an action-research project aimed at empowering the older population of the municipality to engage in a participatory process to examine how friendly the locality is towards senior citizens, and to identify the areas and opportunities for improvement.
Together with the Social Action Area of the municipality, and a leading group of seniors, the University of Deusto helped organize a diagnostic study in which senior citizens themselves identified the elements in their environment that enable and contribute to an active and healthy ageing process.
The people involved in the project are currently working on and Action Plan for improvements to be carried out in the next three years. For further information please follow the
The status of the initiative:
On-going
Please give a summary of your initiative (in English):
they may engage in participatory proccesses that examine how fiendly their municipality is towards seniors in terms of housing, transportation, outdoor spaces and buildings, community support and health services, communication and information, civic participation and employment, respect and social inclusion, and social participation.
The project has accomplished a thorough and participatory diagnostic study of the factors that enable and contribute towards active and healthy ageing processes, and has identify areas that need improvement.
These areas have been included in an action plan that will be carried out in the next three years. The University is interested in finding out to what extent the participants in this process benefit form takin part in it in terms of wellbeing, and a sense of community.
The municipality of Durango has recently joined the World Health Organization’s Global Network of Age Friendly Cities and Communities.
The geographical scope:
Local
Type of initiative:
Public-private-partnershipEnvironment or setting of the initiative:
UrbanThe economic environment or setting of the initiative:
ModerateThe most important source of funding for your initiative:
Local funding
If other, please specify your source of funding:
What triggered this initiative?:
Deusto's Ageing Research Team.
Their work in close contact with international and local stakeholders allowed to initiate the idea of the project in several municipalities of Biscay, and to engage policy makers, local and regional authorities, civil society organisation and senior citizens.
The Durango project is a good example of multi-stakeholder coordination in whcih politicians, academics, technical practitioners, and the community work together.