Silver Economy Accelerating Strategies 2 Grow | 2 Mers Seas Zeeën

SEAS 2 Grow

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Silver Economy Accelerating Strategies 2 Grow

Priority Axis

Technological and Social Innovation

Specific objective

Framework Conditions for Innovation

Lead partner

Eurasanté

Contact

Start Date

01/09/2016

End Date

28/02/2021

Project budget

3 277 430

ERDF amount

1 966 458

ERDF rate

60%

    About

    Common challenge

    The SEAS 2 Grow project originated around the “aging well” sector, more commonly known as the ‘Silver Economy’. It tackled the 2 Seas area challenge of ageing populations which leads to pressure on social & medical services and housing affordability. It has been shown that older adults ( 60+) have a tendency to stay longer at home, even if they face new dependencies. There was therefore a need to raise awareness & co-create a Silver Economy (SE) Ecosystem with stakeholders in order to encourage & enable them to come up with innovative solutions in order to cope with this growing issue. At the time companies did not enter the European SE market because they were not aware of these opportunities, but also because they were faced with regulatory and market barriers. It was upon these issues that the project sought to act, gathering a multidisciplinary partnership.

    Main Achievements

    SEAS 2 Grow came to an end in February 2021. The project aimed at improving the framework conditions for innovation in Silver Economy (any economic activity targeting people of more than 60 years old) in order to develop sustainable solutions and products tailored to elderly needs. To reach this objective, first it was necessary to enable the different stakeholders from this sector to meet and work together, such as elderly, companies, health institutions and local authorities. Collaboration between these actors was needed to develop products that really fit the elderly and their caregivers needs.

    SEAS 2 Grow strategically engaged in living-lab initiatives, rigorously testing groundbreaking products among a cohort of seniors in diverse settings (either at home or within healthcare institutions) to validate their use. Throughout the project's lifetime, it has developed an array of valuable tools. These instruments facilitate enhanced mutual comprehension between companies and health institutions, offering relevant advice to enterprises aspiring to enter the Silver Economy market across the four countries involved. Key accomplishments encompassed hosting needs-finding sessions in each country, conducting a comprehensive market study on Silver Economy structuration and prime opportunities, creating an Online Route to Market tool for personalized guidance on regulations and market pathways in each country, and formulating a Strategic Guide for success in developing, marketing, using, ordering, and/or purchasing innovative products and services. Additionally, SEAS 2 Grow provided Strategic Recommendations to improve efficiency for Silver Economy stakeholders and devised a comprehensive Strategic Action Plan for the international implementation of the Agetech Accelerator.

    Finally, SEAS 2 Grow has also set up the cross-border Accelerator to enable companies to test their products from co-creation to business acceptability. Processes and methodology have been defined collectively by all partners: including a template for a registration form of companies, an evaluation criteria to select them and a methodology to test products. Additionally, 5 calls for projects have also been launched to select products to be tested with panels of elderly in the 4 countries through the Accelerator. Subsequently, 34 companies have been selected via those 5 calls for projects. As a result, experimentations have been carried out with elderly people at home or in health care institutions. The idea was to make all the stakeholders in the engineering chain work and innovate together.

    Testimonial

    After 4 years of cross-border cooperation within SEAS 2 Grow adventure, we have a better understanding of where we sit in terms of Silver Economy and the Age innovation ecosystem and workspace, and also, the challenges we are facing a global and European level and the potential that cross-border collaboration and co-creation has to help in the ageing innovation workspace. We really enjoyed being part of the growth of the Silver Economy sector, playing our part - hopefully – to help create products and ideas that will help people live longer happier, healthier lives in their own homes.

    Partnership

    Partners

    Thomas More Kempen vzw

    CS - Clubster Santé

    La Vie Active

    Smart Homes

    Stad Alkmaar

    Stichting Care Innovation Center West-Brabant

    Stichting tanteLouise

    Allia

    Anglia Ruskin University - ARU

    Outputs

    Output title
    Type
    Target
    URL / Download
    01/09/2020

    SEAS 2 Grow

    Theme: Support to innovationHealthy Ageing

    Strategic Action Plan toward the potential implementation of a common smart specialisation strategy

    Type: Strategy/action plan
    Target: Local, regional and national authorities
    09/01/2020

    SEAS 2 Grow

    Theme: Support to innovationHealthy Ageing

    Cross-border accelerator performing 4-stages testing of Silver Economy solutions

    Type: Method/service
    Target: SMEs /enterprises
    03/01/2020

    SEAS 2 Grow

    Theme: Support to innovationHealthy Ageing

    New economic model to finance Silver Economy Accelerators in a sustainable & long-lasting way

    Type: Method/service
    Target: Local, regional and national authorities
    01/09/2019

    SEAS 2 Grow

    Theme: Support to innovationHealthy Ageing

    New economic models to finance Silver Economy housing for independent living in a sustainable & long-lasting way

    Type: Method/service
    Target: Local, regional and national authorities
    31/10/2018

    SEAS 2 Grow

    Theme: Support to innovationHealthy Ageing

    Strategic Guide on the Silver Economy ecosystem in each 2 Seas region

    Type: Method/service
    Target: SMEs /enterprises

    SEAS 2 Grow

    Theme: Support to innovationHealthy Ageing

    Cross-border strategic committee/alliance to ensure establishment of a sustainable Silver Economy cluster

    Type: Network
    Target: Business support organisations