Who We are

 

The Age Friendly Counties Programme aims to create communities where all of us as we age, enjoy a good quality of life and continue to participate fully in the life of those communities.

The programme is currently being rolled out on a phased basis throughout the country. Our ambition is that every Local Authority area in Ireland will have its own Age-Friendly County Programme involving an Alliance of senior decision makers and influencers across key public, private and voluntary agencies and the leaders of an Older People’s Forum which is open to all older people to join. 

The programme is based on the WHO Age-friendly Cities Framework and Guidelines – which were developed by 33 cities from across the world and involved a major consultation with older people in each of those places.  The framework comprises eight interrelated elements from public spaces to transport, represented in Kilkenny by our flower logo.  The WHO has recently established the WHO Global Network of Age-friendly cities and Kilkenny is affiliating to this global network.

The aims of our programme are ambitious and will require a change in how we think about ageing and how we collaborate and plan to deliver improvements in supports and services as a result. We aim to make Kilkenny a great place to grow old were older people are valued for their wisdom, experience and contributions to an inclusive society and community.

The programme is a key initiative of the Ageing Well Network – an independent network of leaders and heads of organizations across the public, private and voluntary sectors in the field of ageing who share a vision of Ireland as the best country in the world in which to grow old, and are committed to achieving it.

About The AWN:

The network is an independent group of leaders, heads of organisations and strategic thinkers who share a Vision of “an Ireland that is one of the best countries in the world in which to grow old”.

The 75 members include CEOs and heads of units across public, private and voluntary organizations, Secretary Generals and Assistant Secretaries of the relevant government Departments, the Director of the Office for Older People and leading academics. Their expertise relates to all aspects of people’s lives: health/ medicine, community care, transport, the built environment, education, employment, pensions, social welfare, civic participation, new technology, sporting and cultural activities, and older people as consumers.