John G. Kelly B.Com., LL.B., M.Sc. (international relations) M.A. (Jud.Admin) F.CIS
Age Friendly Active Community Advisory
Your guide to
Age Friendly
Affordable
Active
Attractive Amenities
"A"+
Intergenerational Active Communities
You need to ensure that this "A+" category of intergenerational active communities is
representative of your community and places your community as the place that people can and will ignite their passion to"live life to the fullest" in an aging society in an age friendly active community.
What is an “Age Friendly Active Community?
In 2006, the World Health Organization (WHO) convened a group of towns and cities from around the globe, including several from Canada to develop solutions to the following emerging social issues. “Population aging and urbanization are two global trends that together comprise two major forces shaping the 21st century”. The outcome of the meeting was publication of a guide whose purpose “is to engage cities to become more age-friendly so as to tap the potential that older people represent for humanity” The guide developed an architecture for livable cities under the label of the Global Age Friendly Cities Project, the result of which led to publication of the Global Age-friendly Cities: A Guide. The guide was intended to provide a set of guidelines that were labeled as community domains for active aging. “Active aging” is the process of optimizing opportunities for health, participation and security to enhance quality of life as people age”
The Age Friendly Community Domains
The architecture for age friendly cities was encompassed in a framework of eight universal age-friendly domains;
The Age Friendly Community Domains
The architecture for age friendly cities was encompassed in a framework of eight universal age-friendly domains;
- Outdoor spaces and buildings,
- transportation,
- housing,
- social participation,
- respect and social inclusion,
- civic participation and employment,
- communication and
- Information and community support and health services
Click to Download Guide
The guide was emphatic in defining active aging as a life-long process and not restricted to the elderly population. Age friendly communities are intergenerational and inclusive.
In 2007, the Canadian government, in recognition of the need to support Age friendly community development in small towns and villages, created a joint Federal, Provincial, Territorial Age-Friendly Rural and Remote Communities Initiative. Provinces have established age friendly certification programs that provide towns with an architecture and operational framework to attaining age friendly recognition. Most towns do not have the internal resource capability to independently develop an age friendly certification program. They need a "sherpa guide" to mentor them.
- My text Meaningful Memories – Rekindling Past Learning Experiences to Live Life to the Fullest - recounts those all important first attempts in learning (F.A.I.L) growing up in an active parish community in Saint John New Brunswick as a "Bay of Fundy boy" that taught me how to "live life to the fullest" and my rekindling them in my adult life to participate in active community living in the internationally acclaimed vibrant intergenerational urban neighbourhood of Saint Lawrence Market in downtown Toronto. Upon retirement I embraced age friendly active community living in a model age friendly 55+ community at Village by the Arboretum in Guelph that was combined with age friendly active retirement community resort living in Florida and Arizona.
- Yes, I have the life skills and experience to be a "sherpa guide" for people who want to make their communities active age friendly and for "boomers" looking for mentorship on how to ignite their passion to "live life to the fullest" in their new age in an aging society by refusing to live a home alone life and either support the rejuvenation of their community to age friendly recognition status or relocate to an age friendly active community.
- I'm a "Bay of Fundy Boy whose "come home" . I relocated from an urban centre in the Greater Toronto Hamilton Area (GTHA) to a provincially recognized age friendly active community in historic Saint Andrews by the sea in New Brunswick, a town that's consistently ranked as one of the most idyllic small towns in Canada.
- I've embarked on an "encore career".
- I've taken on the role as Executive Director of the Age Friendly Active Community -New Brunswick (AFAC-N.B.) , a non-profit non governmental organization (NGO) that reports to the province, to mentor communities on establishing pro active teams that will develop an architecture and operational framework utilizing the WHO domains to qualify for age friendly recognition status by the Province of New Brunswick. (https://www2.gnb.ca)
- My "Meaningful Memories book recounts the aspect of my professional career in the researching and writing of reader friendly informative thought leader perspectives. I'm going to contribute to the age friendly public policy arena by writing and posting an ongoing series of perspectives that will be posted on my blog.
