The School of Graduate Studies (SGS) at Lingnan University, Universitas Gadjah Mada, Elderly Rights Advocacy and Treatment (ERAT), and the Regional Body for Planning and Development Yogyakarta City, organised the second age friendly city seminar in Yogyakarta, Indonesia, on 16th May 2024, to promote community-based bottom-up approach to building age friendly cities/communities. This seminar is the second of four seminars being co-organized by the SGS at Lingnan University, and its partners in Indonesia to promote age friendly cities and healthy ageing.
The seminar aimed to facilitate the sharing of practical knowledge and strategies to enhance social participation, respect and social inclusion, communication and information access, and community support and health services, for people of all ages. The ultimate goal is to promote healthy ageing among the elderly population, utilizing a community-based, bottom-up approach.
Over 180 participants, including 125 online participants and 57 onsite participants, attended the seminar virtually and in-person. During the seminar, the participants had the opportunity to learn from the practical solutions and best practices that empower communities to actively engage in creating age-friendly environments, based on Hong Kong’s experience.
Ms. Emily Wong, the manager of the School of Graduate Studies at Lingnan University, delivered the seminar titled “Empowering Communities for a Better Future: Hong Kong as a Case Study.” During this seminar Ms. Wong, encouraged intersectoral collaboration between government agencies and non-governmental organisations (NGOs) to build communities that can accommodate people of all ages, especially the elderly ones.
Speakers from the local government agency, represented by Mr. Agus Salim from the Regional Planning & Development Agency, Yogyakarta City and the NGO sector, represented by Dr. Muhammad Sobirin, the Chief Program Officer of Rumah Zakat also shared their efforts in promoting inclusive communities based on their experiences with the local context. Nevertheless, they both highlighted the need for more efforts based on the lessons learned from Hong Kong.
The seminar facilitated a potential collaboration between the Yogyakarta City Government and Rumah Zakat, representing the local government and NGO sector, respectively. The two agencies during their committed to co-developing an integrated service aimed at enhancing the quality of life of older adults in the Yogyakarta Province of Indonesia.
The seminar ended in an interactive Q and A session, with participants seeking more knowledge of the role of different stakeholders in building age-friendly communities, based on the community-based bottom-up approach utilised in Hong Kong.
In the upcoming phase of the seminar, the discussion will revolve around how Hong Kong has effectively employed gerontechnology to promote healthy aging within the four domains (social participation, respect and social inclusion, communication and information, and community support and health services) emphasized by this project.