Tuesday 25 November 2025
15:00–16:15 (CET)*
* Times may be subject to change.
About the workshop
This workshop is aimed at delegates who are involved in coordinating age-friendly programmes and initiatives. It sets out the key principles and skills age-friendly leadership and why it’s important. It will bring in examples from the Nordic network for age-friendly cities and communities and the recently published UK Age-friendly leadership guide. It will also offer an opportunity to reflect on the skills required, where they already exist in you and your community, and how you can develop them further.
Moderators
Anne Berit Rafoss
Project manager, Centre for an age-friendly Norway
Anne Berit Rafoss has championed age-friendly development for the last 12 years. She has developed Oslo as an age-friendly city, established a working group on "Urban ageing"in the European network of cities called Eurocities and had secondments at the WHO Geneva office focusing on age-friendly development. She has establised a network of age-friendly cities and communities in Norway, first with the Norwegian association of local and regional authorities, currently hosted by the Centre for an age-friendly Norway/the Norwegian Directorate of Health. The Centre for an age-friendly Norway, where Anne Berit is project manager, is a result of the national quality reform for older people: "A full life – all your life". The Centre is committed to creating an age-friendly society focusing on involvement of older people, cross-sectorial collaboration and sustainable development.
Natalie Turner
Deputy Director of Localities, the Centre for Ageing Better, UK
Natalie’s goal is to create more places where people can live a good later life and has been working Natalie in ageing locally, nationally, and internationally since 2010. Her team supports the UK affiliate network for the WHO’s Global Network of Age-friendly Cities and Communities with a membership of around 100 places covering a population of 30 million people
She was previously a senior policy advisor at AARP in Washington, DC and Head of Programmes at Age UK London.
Featuring
Stian Fantoft Alvestad
Universal design adviser, Stavanger Municipality, Norway
Stian is an advisor in the Department of Urban and Community planning in Stavanger municipality in Norway. He holds the overall responsibility for coordinating the municipality’s collective efforts to make Stavanger more universally designed and age-friendly. He holds master’s degree in public health science and has previously worked with promoting public health policies in the The Norwegian Health Organization and Oslo municipality.
Emma Matsson
Development manager, Age-friendly Gothenburg
Emma Matsson is the development manager for Age-friendly Gothenburg, Sweden. She has established a network of age-friendly colleages in all of the involved municipality departments and companies in Gothenburg, and facilitate the work with Gothenburg's actionplan. Age-friendly Gothenburg host a network of senior citizens called Future Developers who live all over Gothenburg and contribute voluntarily to the work. Age-friendly Gothenburg also host a collaboration-platform Årsrika Göteborg which involves different stakeholders in society, and has formed a partnership with AgeCap, Centre for Ageing and Health, University of Gothenburg.