University research group presents to the United Nations
15 Jul 2015
Sociologist Dr Tine Buffel discusses our research around ageing in cities
The University’s Manchester Institute for Collaborative Research on Ageing (MICRA) is presenting its ground-breaking work to improve the lives of older people to the United Nations.
Sociologist Dr Tine Buffel will join a panel at the UN in New York to present research around ageing in cities and work with partners across Manchester.
MICRA has spearheaded a unique project in which older residents, aged between 58 and 74-years-old, were trained as co-researchers to work alongside sociologists exploring the ‘age-friendliness’ of cities.
Dr Buffel will present research and programmes across Manchester as part of a three-day UN summit on protecting the human rights and dignity of older people.
She said: “The age-friendly approach is increasingly recognised as a model which promotes the right to a good old age. This is a fantastic opportunity to present Manchester’s innovative research and practice across the city council, the University and local communities to a global audience.
“Our experience is that training older people as co-researchers is effective in gaining a deeper understanding of the issues that older people themselves view as important. We want older people to feel that the city belongs to them as much as anyone else – and we believe the age-friendly approach is effective in doing this and can be replicated across neighbourhoods.”
Manchester became the first UK city to be recognised as ‘age-friendly’ by the World Health Organisation in 2010. University researchers predict that in 15 years’ time, a quarter of the world’s population living in cities will be over-60.