Social innovation is about finding new ways to address unmet social needs. Some of those unmet needs are right there in front of our face, while others are emerging. Some are both.
We are embarking on one of the largest demographic shifts in Australia’s history. Improvements in life expectancy combined with a generation of baby boomers entering later life means we now have the largest proportion of older Australians than we have ever previously experienced. Our home state of South Australia is seeing this emerging trend harder and faster than any other state in Australia, but we are by no means alone. Indeed, this is a growing trend across the developed world and a trend that is likely to continue.
Nor is the ageing of our society a secret trend. We have been often publicly warned in speeches and in the press about the impending fiscal and service crises that will overwhelm our national savings and government budgets as healthcare costs for the aged inexorably rise while fewer of us will remain in work to support those in retirement. These are legitimate concerns, which should rightly prompt us to think about new strategies and models for enhancing the wellbeing of our ageing society while containing the costs.
And yet…there is another side to this story.
Our ageing society need not be seen merely as a liability to be minimised or a risk to be mitigated. It could – indeed should – be one of our greatest community assets. So how do we effectively tap into the collective wisdom of our elders? How can society better use their skills, abilities, experience and other resources to meet their own needs as well as continuing to contribute meaningfully to their community? What models of housing, transport or employment might best meet the needs and simultaneously obtain the greatest productivity of an ageing society? How can we deliver ongoing social interaction and connectedness to avoid the negative consequences of isolation? How can generations work better together to utilise their respective strengths? And as being an older Australian becomes increasingly the norm, how can we create a society where one’s age becomes less relevant than one’s capacities and interests?
Over the coming months, TACSI will be embarking on an exploration of these issues as we kick off our project on social innovation for an ageing society. As with our other projects, our emphasis will be on doing things on the ground so we will be looking for practical opportunities to explore and develop new ways to address current and future unmet needs. We have already started to collate some ideas from local, national and international colleagues, in areas as diverse as community transport, housing, connectivity, ‘encore’ careers and trust. We will be building on our learning from our existing projects, such as our family project. And we are very excited to have already started linking up with a range of partners that are keen to collaborate.
We welcome your input and or interest in our work. Please feel free to contact us at info@tacsi.org.au. We will be sure to update this page as our project continues to take shape.
We are recruiting a project officer to work with us to scope and deliver this exciting and diverse project – if you are interested in this opportunity, please see jobs with us for more details. We are also interested in connecting with volunteers, researchers or other collaborators who might like to engage on a less formal and full-time basis.
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