21 October, 2022

The penultimate meeting of the highly successful SilverSMEs Interreg Europe project (2018-2023) was held in the rural village of Tällberg in the Dalarna Region, Sweden.

Although a long journey from Cork to Tällberg (via Paris and Stockholm), the Hincks Centre's Dr Helen McGuirk came back with great insights on how the Swedish support and develop a strong silver economy. The group visited Smarter Homes (a living lab and showroom) and heard about their links with the University of Dalarna’s Welfare Technology Centre in Falun. Their visit to Dalarna Science Park in Falun was a notable example of how local health care, regional authorities, housing departments, industry and the local university work together to support an increasing older population.

As well as the extensive study visits, the project partners presented an update on their action plans. Helen was proud to report the success of the implementation of both action plans set by the Hincks Centre:

1. The inclusion of the silver economy in the Southwest Enterprise Plan to 2024 and
2. Raise awareness of the silver economy among SMEs, policy makers, researchers, and the region.

Hincks’ lead for the project, Dr Aisling ConwayLenihan, recently presented the project at the OECD Conference in Cavan in September, co-edited a special issue on the silver economy and had an article published in the Cork Chamber e-zine; all raising awareness of, for many, a new opportunity for SMEs.

To learn more about the Silver SMEs project, click here to visit the project page on our website.

http://www.interregeurope.eu/silversmes/

This project has been funded with support from the European Commission. This publication reflects the views only of the author, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein.