Age 3.0: The Creative Aging Fair is coming to Concordia on August 25

The creative trade fair brings ageing to the forefront of public, commercial and academic discourses.Right now, Canada has more people over the age of 65 than under the age of 15, and in 40 years, seniors will make up one quarter of the country’s population.

Terms like “silver tsunami” alongside headlines like “Baby boom to ageing gloom” indicate the negative light that is often cast onto this demographic shift. However, not everyone views our ag

Right now, Canada has more people over the age of 65 than under the age of 15, and in 40 years, seniors will make up one quarter of the country’s population.

Terms like “silver tsunami” alongside headlines like “Baby boom to ageing gloom” indicate the negative light that is often cast onto this demographic shift. However, not everyone views our ageing population this way. Instead, many are imagining the creative potential of such a population.

On August 25, Concordia will host Age 3.0, a fair to explore the multiple intersections of innovation, the creative economy, emerging technologies and ageing.

The event is co-organized by the Ageing + Communication + Technologies (ACT) Project, a research group directed by communication studies professor Kim Sawchuk, and Communautique, a hub dedicated to learning, collaboration, research and experimentation in social and technological innovation.

The event will also include participation from local businesses and community organizations and the purpose of the day is to provide a space for conversations about creative ways people are thinking about growing older.

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Age 3.0 is open to academics, businesses, students and the general public alike. It will bring together researchers working on the topic of ageing from fields such as architecture, communication studies, psychology, education and fine arts to speak on panels about the ways university research can foster creative and complex approaches to ageing processes that challenge normative or stereotypical understandings of later life. A poster session will showcase the projects of graduate students from around the world.Throughout the day, Concordia’s Black Box theatre will feature lively community art interventions created by seniors organizations through collaborative research, and will feature groups and projects such as Respecting Elders: Communities Against Abuse (RECAA), the St-Henri Art Hive, The Yellow Door and the Atwater Library and Computer Centre.

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Live performances, knit-ins and multimedia presentations will occupy the Black Box theatre space (EV Building – S3.845) and visitors will be invited to interact with the installations. The ground floor of Concordia’s Engineering, Computer Science and Visual Arts Integrated Complex (EV Building) will be home to kiosks hosted by companies and research groups working to bring ageing to the forefront of public, commercial and academic discourses.

Age 3.0 takes place on August 25 from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. in the atrium of the EV Building of Concordia University in Montreal at 1515 Saint Catherine St. W. The event is free and open to the public. More information about the day’s events is available here. You can register at the fair for free here

This article was written by Kendra Besanger and Constance Lafontaine and originally published on the Concordia University website.

“CRACKED: New Light on Dementia” Toronto: July 26th, 27th, 28th 2016

CRACKED is an innovative, research-based play that follows persons with dementia and their families on their unique journeys with dementia, from diagnosis to their new lives in long-term care. The families struggle to see beyond the disease as they come to accept that each of us has cracks as part of being human.

Coming to Toronto in July: three dates, three locations. Watch the trailer here.

Cracked posterAAIC Jul 26 2016Cracked poster Isabel Bader Jul 27 2016 (002)


Statistics Canada Study on Women in Canada features a chapter on Senior Women

The recent Statistics Canada Study on Women in Canada features a chapter on older women, titled Senior Women. The report, published in March 2016, features data as recent as 2015 and provides comparative analyses of various topics, including demographic trends, internet use, employment rates of older women and social participation. Summary points are available in the press release and the full report is also available on the Statistics Canada website.

Art for Social Change: WEAAD event on June 9

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To mark World Elder Abuse Awareness Day, elders make waves towards an age friendly city.

On Thursday June 9th, Montreal-based groups RECAA, Union United Church and Le Groupe Herencias/Encounters project will join forces with their partners to bring community awareness to the importance of an age friendly city in preventing elder abuse. Starting at 11 am, local groups, including mostly seniors, will meet at the Lionel-Groulx metro and march to the Union United Church. Once at the church, lunch will be served. There will be speeches and more arts-based interventions. The purpose of the day’s activities is to engage the public with work that is being done by local groups to prevent elder abuse. Under the banner of “Elders Make Waves towards an Age Friendly City”, the groups have been focusing on issues of accessible transportation, social inclusion, and health and social services. This event is being held in anticipation of World Elder Abuse Awareness Day (WEAAD), which happens annually on June 15th. Media and the public are invited to join.

Date of Event: Thursday, June 9 (11am to 3pm)

Location of Event: Lionel-Groulx metro (at 11am) and the Union United Church, 3007 Delisle Street (12pm-3pm)