The Network kick-off meeting was held on 10 April, at the European Commission premises in Brussels, and was attended by EC representatives and the coordinators of the 3 selected networks for this year – besides SHAFE, also Societal Impact of Pain and Consumption of Fresh Fruits and Vegetables.
The SHAFE Network, in the words of its Coordinator, Carina Dantas (Cáritas Coimbra), will aim to “discuss and facilitate the creation of healthy and friendly environments for all ages through the use of new technologies as a priority for the 2018 policy, towards the production of a comprehensive and participatory Joint Statement. In more concrete terms, it is intended to highlight the importance of People and Places in the creation of digital solutions for eHealth and mHealth, with quality but still accessible to all. What we want is to value the Person as a central element of this whole process of digitization”.
Coordinator Willeke Van Staalduinen (AFEdemy) enforces that “bringing together the state-of-the-art experience and knowledge with eHealth and mHealth solutions in Europe will inspire local, regional and national stakeholders to realise a better quality of life of citizens and sustainable healthcare systems”.
Cáritas Coimbra and AFEdemy already engaged a wide range of national and international organizations in this discussion, namely more than 30 partners from groups D4 and C2 of the European Innovation Partnership on Active and Healthy Ageing (EIP-AHA), European Innovation Partnership on Smart Cities and Communities (EIP-SCC), European Covenant on Demographic Change, Eurocities, European Framework for Age-Friendly Housing, European Centre Social Welfare Policy, Reference Sites Collaborative Network, European Health Telematics Association (EHTEL) and ECHAlliance.

This Thematic Network aims at creating a high-level political alignment of various networks and initiatives for age-related issues, under the framework of EU’s Health Priorities. Smart environments need to align technological development with the building industry in terms of policy and funding, in order to make solutions available, affordable and large-scaled in Europe. This broad adoption may be the keystone to a more efficient health care system that adds better quality for less investment.
The Joint Statement will have a framework section and also a call to action. The first draft of the document will circulate through the partners in June for discussion and contributions. The final version must be delivered by October 25th and in November it will be officially launched during the Health Policy Platform Annual Meeting.
In December, it is intended to go further and launch a White Paper for 2019, built on the existing network and conclusions of the Joint Statement.

Broader contributions and endorsement will make a real difference in the strength of the JS recommendations to the European Commission and Member States. That is why Ageing@Coimbra is actively contributing and calling you to action.

So, if you wish to provide your inputs and share your opinion, join the network in https://www.caritascoimbra.pt/en/shafe/i-want-to-join/

Together, we may build Smart Healthy Age-Friendly Environments!