Rouyer, Alice and Casula, Marina (2018) ÂGIR: empowering seniors! Take care of your own business: do it yourself! In: ENHR (European Network for Housing Research) 2018 ; WG Housing and living conditions of ageing populations, 26-29 Juin 2018, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Suède..

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Abstract

The action research project ÂGIR (Âge, innovation sociale et réflexivité / Ageing, social innovation and reflexivity) allows seniors to take part in the building of a collective knowledge base on issues related to ageing and conviviality in the Greater Toulouse Area.

First, the seniors involved in the project collect information by conducting qualitative surveys in their daily living environment, among different kinds of actors or other seniors. This aims at reaching a better understanding of the various factors that shape the social life of elderly people and impact its preservation or revival. The survey results then allow to identify specific issues which can be translated into ‘problems to be solved,’ and thus, contribute to bringing local solutions that improve the social integration of elderly people. We are at the heart of a process of social innovation which could lead to the implementation of different kinds of strategies: built environment (man-made environment); digital solutions (communication devices), co-production of social services (human organization)… or all three at once! This is why the group is supported by a research team composed of social scientists, urban planning and architecture scholars, and experts in computer science and software engineering.