On May 6, 2025, the ‘1st BALL Forum: Building Participatory and Ethical Aging’ took place, bringing together around 100 people from different fields who shared experiences and highlighted the role of older adults in designing future solutions.
The manager of the Parc Sanitari Pere Virgili (PSPV), Dr. Marco Inzitari, and the director of Internal Strategy at VHIR, Dr. Anna Santamaria, were in charge of welcoming everyone. They represented, respectively, two of the BALL institutions. On the one hand, the PSPV as the driving force behind the living lab, and on the other, the VHIR as the event’s host. Following this, Ms. Assumpta Escarp, as BALL ambassador, gave the opening ceremony with some very inspiring words: “Future solutions must respond to real needs, and only older people know these.”
All the entities that make up the BALL were present at this I Forum. In addition, some of them participated in one of the five roundtable discussions held.
The participation of users, the academic and research world, and public and private institutions enriched this First Forum. Among other topics discussed were responsible and inclusive research, the future challenges of senior housing, policies and programs to address unwanted loneliness, the challenges of aging with disabilities, and the role of both professional and informal caregivers.
Finally, the Honorable Marta Villanueva, Councilor for Health, People with Disabilities, and the Strategy to Combat Loneliness at Barcelona City Council, closed the Forum.