Page 27 - IJPS-10-2

International Journal of
Population Studies Age-friendly cities and lifelong learning

greater scope for creativity and deferred human potential on a government pension (if such exists). Static funding for
aligned to Laslett’s (1989) third age. This age, amid four elders in a rapidly rising cost of living crisis renders many
from birth to death, focuses on active aging where older in precarious financial situations. It will be demonstrated
adults can flourish, exemplified in the educational area by that each of the above lifelong learning themes is revealed
the work of the U3A movement (Formosa, 2019). In the and enacted to some degree in age-friendly practices.
informal learning sphere, seniors can exercise self-directed
and experiential learning to achieve new goals in a learning 1.4. Contexts of age friendliness
society (Brookfield, 1986). This dimension is predicated While the focus of this article is concentrated on the age-
on an ideology of individualism and is humanistically friendly city phenomenon, there are many other locales
oriented (Knowles, 1980). which may share many of the same principles and practices
as a city environment. According to the WHO (n.d. [b]),
1.3.3. The active citizenship dimension
as at November 2023, there are currently 1542 cities and
An active citizen is crucial in a democratic and civil communities in 51 countries, covering 320 million people
society. Older people can engage in communities as active worldwide. Giving special attention to older people’s needs
participants in such a society. Welton (2005, pp.101–2) has and aspirations is hardly new but this relatively fresh
defined civil society as “a social space with emancipatory initiative of age friendliness globally and locally provides
potential, influenced by but not completely absorbed enhanced possibilities for citizen involvement in their
into the state and economy.” In a less work-oriented daily lives.
space, seniors have arguably greater opportunity to
undertake volunteering in community organizations and In a broader context of case studies concerning AFCC,
actively contribute to society as part of their active aging. Remillard-Boilard et al. (2021) comment that “little is
Potentially, in later life, citizens can influence the direction known about the progress made by cities developing this
of local initiatives through selective choices about where work around the world” (p. 4). Their purposeful sampling
to invest their energies. For instance, in exercising their strategy captured 11 cities (all of which had been in the age-
political rights, older people can seriously influence, friendly program; already members of the WHO’s (n.d.)
through strategic voting, outcomes in local and national Global Network for Age-friendly Cities and Communities;
elections. varied in size; located in different countries). Their findings
emphasized the aspects of changing the perception of
1.3.4. The social inclusion/exclusion dimension older age, involving key actors in age-friendly efforts,
responding to the diverse needs of older people and the
Many nations are grappling with the challenge of how to
create unity out of diversity. This diversity may emerge need to improve planning and delivery of programs.
through identity formation related to networks linked to Thus, many of the issues faced by older adults in an
ethnicity, gender, social class, disabilities, and other forms immediate locality are included in the projected plans of
of exclusion away from dominant groups’ ideologies and varied organizations (private sector; non-governmental
practices. Seniors can readily be marginalized and rendered organizations; and community education agencies),
invisible (Tuckett, 2022). The workplace is a classic example including local councils. This is evident in the case
of where the government, through uninspiring public study below which illustrates how conceptualization,
policy implementation, or employers, through enacting implementation, and evaluation (common program
ageist practices (e.g., in recruitment), can fail to capitalize development mechanisms employed in adult education and
on the latent talents of older people (Short & Harris, 2014). lifelong learning) are presented in one New Zealand city.
In the educational context, the practices of universities Further, this case will help to illuminate the achievements
do not match the application of inspirational principles and challenges of cementing age friendliness into the
espoused by some leading higher education institutions in consciousness of city dwellers.
the age-friendly university network (Talmage et al., 2016).
While much exclusion of older people from everyday life 2. Methods
may be inadvertent or subtle, it nevertheless often renders In this article, the focus is on age-friendly cities while
individuals as unable to exercise equal opportunity (Wain, acknowledging the expanding literature on age-friendly
2009). universities (Talmage et al., 2016) and other communities

The above dimensions are not mutually exclusive but (van Hoof & Marston, 2021). The author is using a
can coexist and/or have a partially causal relationship. For selected literature review of salient concepts and learnings
instance, the state of a country’s economy can have a more from other locations (see Remillard-Boilard et al., 2021)
detrimental effect on many seniors who may be dependent together with his active engagement at an experiential level

Volume 10 Issue 2 (2024) 21 https://doi.org/10.36922/ijps.380