18 : MOBILISING KNOWLEDGE
Mobilising Knowledge

In the next decade demographic and urban changes will have profound effects on all UK residents.

Older people are an increasingly large percentage of the population but are often disconnected from the development process. They are often disadvantaged in their interactions with the urban environment and their valuable knowledge and experiences remain untapped by planners. Therefore, a summer school critically exploring future developments from the perspective of local older people is being planned.

The summer school aims to equip twenty senior citizens of mixed ethnic and class backgrounds with knowledge and skills in art, geography and citizenship, by means of photography, mapping and an exploration of the plans for the Thames Gateway. This will allow seniors to interact with urban change, reflect on their needs, and propose concrete solutions for how development can be more inclusive of the entire population in a workshop with council officers, councilors and other important representatives.

The results will be compiled in good-practice guidelines that can be used in future planning processes. The results will be disseminated to diverse public and private actors in a variety of formats, making the broader public as well as policy-makers aware of seniors' particular requirements in the urban environment.