More than 30 regional delegates met on Thursday 5 March 2015 in Aalborg for the Training Academy on the Silver Economy. The ageing population does not only represent a challenge for our society, but also an opportunity.

Including senior citizens in the design of public policies is a necessity for regions in order to be able to support their sustainable development. Edwin Mermans (Noord-Brabant, NL) and Birgitta Sacrédeus (Dalarna, SE) shared their silver economy strategies in their regions: whether to provide quality care, or to encourage young people to take up jobs in the health sector to meet the growing needs of our seniors. These strategies allowed the regions to create real ecosystems to make the best use of demographic change.

At the end, group exercises based on the Leadership toolkit inspired by the Council of Europe allowed participants to identify vectors and potential barriers to the development of the silver economy in their regions.