Partners
and the age-friendly cities they represent
T.R. Çanakkale Governorship & Çanakkale
T.R. Çanakkale Governorship
Project coordinator
Within the borders of the province, the Governor, who is the representative and administrative executive instrument of our President, is in charge of fully implementing the decisions taken by our President, the Turkish Grand National Assembly and the Ministries. It is also the Governor’s duty to protect public order&safety by maintaining personal immunity, peace and security and by regulating the general administration and its course. The Governor is acountable to the President for provincial administration. At the same time, due to His duty, He acts as a bridge between citizens and the State.
Canakkale Governorship’ EU and Foreign Relations Office has been actively running both local and international project since its creation. Up to now, the governorship has coordinated 2016-1-TR01-KA204-034336, which was another EU project aiming to help the migrants in our country. Also, Gökçeada (Imroz) has earned the EDEN (European Destination of Excellence) Finalist in 2015. The staff in Canakkale Governorship attended the Turkish Sign Language course, which was another successful initiative of the EU Office in 2018.
About Canakkale
The two most important places of history can be explored in Canakkale: Troy and Gallipoli. Originally, Canakkale was an Ottoman fortress named Kale-i-Sultanie. Later, it excelled in pottery and thus earned the current name Canakkale – “canak” meaning pot and “kale” meaning fortress.
The history of Çanakkale dates back to a period, as early as 5,000 years. It is believed that the earliest inhabitants settled in the Kumkale area and the Troy was set up between 3500–3000 B.C. The mythological war of Troy, which was immortalized by Homer in his Iliad, also believed to have happened by then. The Aeolians settled in the region in the 8th century B.C. and they were followed by the Lydians in the 7th century B.C. and the Persians in the 6th century B.C. When Alexander the Great defeated the Persians, the Macedonians got in charge of the region but later in the 2nd century B.C., Pergamon Kingdom conquered Aeolis. In the 2nd century A.D., Goths from Thrace attacked Troy because it was an important port. The Byzantine name for Çanakkale was “Dardanellia” which turned into “Dardanelles” in English. In the 14th century, the Ottomans started to control Gallipoli. During the First World War, the battle of Canakkale (Gallipoli War, 1915) took place when the Turkish soldiers tried to drive out the Allied Forces from the region. Turkish forces under the leadership of Mustafa Kemal Ataturk battled successfully and that’s how Canakkale earned its name as “Canakkale: un-passable”. Unfortunately, 500,000 soldiers died to achieve this success and, in their memory, this peninsula has been made a national park of remembrance.
E-Seniors & Paris
E-Seniors
E-Seniors is a non-profit non-governmental organization, founded in 2005 by Monique Epstein, the general manager of the association. E-Seniors aims at fighting e-exclusion by offering ICT training to seniors (people aged 55 and over). Its main objectives are:
- to bridge the digital gap between generations,
- to foster seniors’ social participation,
- to propose activities encouraging seniors to spend actively their free time.
Since its creation, E-Seniors provides ICT courses for seniors in various public places and constantly opens new courses all over the Parisian region, in order to provide proximity services taking into account the rhythm, the interests and the needs of its audience. Through its actions for and with elderly people, E-Seniors also raises awareness about the importance of ICT solutions in everyday life. The association also proposes interactive gaming activities in elderly residences, retirement homes and day-care centres. E-Seniors is aware of the challenges that both healthy and dependant seniors face up to and is involved in the development of new products and services aiming to boost independent living and to maintain physical and mental health.
ESE is involved in many European projects funded by the Erasmus+, Horizon2020 and the EIT Health programmes. The mission of ESE in these projects is to promote innovation in healthy living and active ageing, as well as lifelong learning.
About Paris
Paris is the capital city of France, and the largest city in France. The area is 105 square kilometres and around 2.15 million people live there. If suburbs are counted, the population of the Paris area rises to 12 million people. The city has a multi-cultural style because 20% of the people there are from outside France
The Seine river runs through the oldest part of Paris and divides it into two parts, known as the Left Bank and the Right Bank. It is surrounded by many forests.
Paris is also monumental, both due to its size but also its wealth of architectural heritage! The symbol of the capital city, and doubtless its best-known monument, is the unique Eiffel Tower, the “Iron Lady” that offers visitors an unsurpassed view. Close by is the equally iconic Arc de Triomphe. This historical landmark dazzles onlookers on summer days when the sun sets through the huge arch. Notre Dame Cathedral, a masterpiece of Gothic architecture, is another magnificent and unmissable sight, where you can admire sculptures, the nave, towers and even the crypt!
Just as evocative, the Sacré-Cœur Basilica has been the source of inspiration for writers and filmmakers. It houses the largest mosaic in France and boasts an incredible panoramic view over the city from the top of the Montmartre district! Paris is also a city of iconic squares, including the Place de la Concorde with its two fountains, rostral columns and the incredible Luxor Obelisk, the Place de la Bastille, with its famous July Column commemorating the revolution and its very modern Paris National Opera and the Place de l’Opéra, featuring the magnificent Opéra Garnier.
Magenta & Gijón
Magenta
As can be seen, its target group is represented by all generations, with whom it works not only directly, but also with other professionals. Together, they want to achieve socio-economic human rights for those groups in vulnerable situations that have difficulties obtaining them or do not have them guaranteed. With this purpose, Magenta works annually with approximately 500 learners/users and collaborates with 50 NGOs and 56 City Councils from Asturias, its region in the north of Spain. At an international level, it hosts around 300 European learning mobilities thanks to the cooperation with its network of partner organizations around Europe, which is integrated by more than 200 institutions.
Regarding Magenta’s own team, they are a close group of professionals with not-so-similar careers. It has from philologists to social workers or pedagogues, among others, and this fulfilling variety is one of Magenta’s main values, as it allows them to complement each other. Cooperation and collaboration are what lead them to succeed in their goals.
About Gijón
Even now, when the industry is decreasing, and the old military headquarters of Santa Catalina’s hill has long ago become a park, Gijón has managed to maintain its importance, being the most populated city in Asturias, ahead of the capital, Oviedo. This is mainly due to the new focus towards becoming a touristic, I+D+i and university center, which has held its economical strength. It has a wide network of museums, the cultural complex of the Labor University, a university campus, and a science-technology park, among other important sports facilities.
But Gijón does not only have a history in its ground and historic buildings. Being one of the most populated areas of Asturias, one of the regions with the most aging population in Spain, the city has quite a huge elderly population (a 26’4% of the total). Besides this being due to the natural aging of its population, geography also explains this situation, as Gijón is built-in the plain ground, something that is not very common in Asturias due to its orography. This makes the city quite accessible, as it has also very modern facilities as nursing homes, hospitals, and other public facilities and services as well.
Parasol Foundation & POZNAŃ
Parasol Foundation
About POZNAŃ
The city is an important road and rail junction, and the Poznań-Ławica international airport also operates here. Poznań is a center of industry, trade, logistics, and tourism. The Poznań International Fair operates here – the largest and oldest exhibition center in Poland. Poznań is an academic, scientific, and cultural center. Over 110 thousand students study at 25 universities. people. There are, among others, opera, philharmonic, ballet, theaters, cinemas, museums, art galleries, orchestras, and folk groups.
Poznań was one of the capital and religious centers of the Piast state in the 10th and 11th centuries, in the past it served as the seat of Polish rulers and was also one of the most developed fortresses in Poland at that time. Poznań was also the capital of Poland in the years 1290–1296. It is one of the oldest established cities in Poland – it was granted city rights in 1253. In the cathedral in Poznań, there is a symbolic tomb of the first Polish rulers – Mieszko I and Bolesław I the Brave. The Ostrów Tumski island is the seat of the curia of the Poznań Archdiocese – the oldest in Poland, and also the second oldest university in Poland. The capital of Greater Poland was one of the royal cities of the Crown of the Kingdom of Poland.
Poznań cultural climate is formed by the wide range of entertainment on offer. Major international events hosted here include Malta Festival – the biggest theatre festival in Poland, Dancing Poznań – which has been attracting dancers from all over the world for 17 years.
The program is complemented by small but quickly growing events – the Animator Festival – the biggest festival of animated films in Poland, the Ethno Port Festival – recognized as one of the best 25 world music festivals in the world.
University of Porto & Porto
University of Porto
University of Porto (UPORTO, www.up.pt) is Portugal’s second largest university and one of the most prestigious teaching and research institutions in the country. Competences Centre on Active and Healthy Ageing of UPorto, Porto4Ageing, is a four-starred Reference Site and Partner Plus of the European Innovation Partnership and Healthy Ageing of the European Commission, bringing together over 90 organisations, the large majority of them established within the Porto Metropolitan Area, in the Northern Region of Portugal.
The partnership is built upon the quadruple helix approach – it involves different stakeholders (regional governments and health and care providers, academia and research, industry and civil society), which are in good position to drive structural changes far beyond the scope any organization could achieve on its own, aiming to innovate and experiment in real world settings. Despite the different backgrounds, goals and actions, Porto4Ageing revolves around a shared vision and common targets, where each organisation actively contributes in a specific way to the overall goal of responding to the citizens’ needs, specifically in matters related to active and health ageing in the Porto Region.
The Porto4Ageing alliance is committed to promoting local convergence and improving the health innovation ecosystem, while reducing and overcoming existing bottlenecks. It is doing so by promoting joint work for high impact, thus bridging the gap between public and private actions and instruments and, ultimately, facilitating knowledge exchanges and scaling up of results (www.porto4ageing.up.pt).The Porto4Ageing consortium stems from the UPORTO Ageing Network, established in 2013, as UPORTO considered that it could play a vital role in the improvement of health and AID4Ageing 9 This proposal version was submitted by Sophie Monteau on 04/06/2020 14:39:24 Brussels Local Time. Issued by the Funding & Tenders Portal Submission System.quality of life of European citizens, and particularly relating to elderly population, by contributing through research and development in this particular field. In this context, the top management of UPORTO had decided that a network composed of experts in the field of ageing should be created within the university, to bring together, not only different stakeholders to join up forces and expertise, but also different visions and contributions (health and social services, social, cultural, behavioural determinants, etc.).
University of Porto has around 1600 non-teaching staff, over 31.000 students (around 1500 from foreign countries) and 2300 full-time academic staff, two thirds of which are post-graduates. This high qualification level of the teaching staff, combined with advanced lab technology and equipment, as well as the close connections with the business world ensure first-class training, which is fully recognized by the labour market. As the biggest producer of science in Portugal, UPORTO provides an exceptional variety of courses (over 600 training programmes per year, degree awarding and non-degree awarding) covering the whole range of study areas and all levels of higher education, from degrees to lifelong education courses. Currently, UPORTO hosts almost 49 research centres (9 of them are state associated labs) covering a wide range of areas, from the humanities to sciences and technologies, and six competence centres in the fields of cybersecurity, ageing, biomechanics, media, ocean and materials research.
Evaluated by international panels of independent experts in assessments by the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology, more than a half of these research units have been awarded as “Excellent” and “Very Good”. Many of these centres are used as interfaces for institutions, bringing the University together, as a main partner, along with other organisations representing external interests. Assuming itself as a Research University, UPORTO is responsible for almost 25% of the Portuguese scientific papers indexed in the ISI – Web of Science (ISI-WoS). In the last years, UPORTO has been putting large efforts in providing greater economic value to its scientific production and partnerships with industry leaders have already resulted in several innovations with proven success in the national and international sphere. University of Porto Science and Technology Park (UPTEC) has been playing a very important role in this matter.
About Porto
Lidi Smart Solutions & The Hague
Lidi Smart Solutions
Another focus of our interests is social innovations backed by EU strategic partnerships. We are driven by our care for social causes and issues in a number of social strata. Our aim is to advance the instruments of the relevant stakeholders ultimately seeking a friendlier and fairer society. It is a privilege for us to participate in projects targeting social inclusion of the elderly citizens, their active aging and independent living as well as the wellbeing of youth with fewer opportunities.
The company is based in The Netherlands.
About The Hague
The city of The Hague is more than 750 years old, with signs of the first inhabitants living on these grounds dating around 6000 years ago. Artifacts from the Roman Empire, Eighty Years’ War, The Second World War, and other important epochs of human history can be found there. Remains from the different periods of poverty and prosperity throughout the centuries are kept carefully. The treasures of the past and the old architecture, the local city secrets, cathedrals, and museums attract thousands of tourists every year.
Another attraction for the local citizens and the tourists is the festivals and the rich cultural life. People from all over the world come to experience the fireworks, campfire, dance and food festivals, jazz and royal nights, pop and rock concerts, and many other live events. A distinctive feature of the local people is their love for street fairs and performances. There are many galleries that present the masterpieces of old and new artists.
With a population of around 704,000 spread over an area of 98.12 km2, the citizens of The Hague enjoy spacious neighborhoods and plenty of beautiful green parks. The city is proud of its bicycle infrastructure, which supports the so-called ‘Dutch way of living’. Breathtaking dunes, endless white sandy beaches, and the magnificent sea view only add to the glamor of The Hague. Trendy bars and charming restaurants alongside the beach boulevard and the harbor enhance the city’s vibe and spirit and guarantee unforgettable moments for its citizens and guests.
GRANT AGREEMENT 2020-1-TR01-KA204-092414