Empowering Senior Voices: Shaping Age-Friendly Neighbourhoods in City North
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Join us for the launch of the Empowering Senior Voices report, showcasing how older adults in Melbourne’s City North precinct used citizen science and participatory research to identify opportunities and challenges for creating more age-friendly neighbourhoods. Drawing on the Stanford Our Voice methodology, the project enabled older residents to document their lived experiences and work collaboratively to develop recommendations for improving inclusion, participation, accessibility, and wellbeing. The event will present key findings and bring together researchers, community members, policymakers, and practitioners to discuss how community voices can inform positive social change.
Welcome
Associate Prof Lauren Gurrieri, RMIT University
Lauren Gurrieri is an Associate Professor of Marketing and the Director of the Centre for Organisations and Social Change at RMIT University. Her research examines gender, consumption and the marketplace, with a focus on the inequalities and harms (re)produced and experienced across consumer and digital cultures. She has authored over 50 peer reviewed journal articles, book chapters, case studies and commissioned reports and has been awarded over $1.2 million in external research funding, including from the Australian Research Council. Her research frequently informs public debate, industry reform, and policy initiatives aimed at addressing gender inequality in advertising and digital culture
Presenters
Prof Bernardo Figueiredo, RMIT University
Bernardo Figueiredo is a Professor of Marketing at RMIT University and Co-Lead of the Positive Ageing Theme within the Centre for Organisations and Social Change. His work sits at the intersection of ageing, digital technologies, and social systems, exploring how markets, institutions, and communities shape the possibilities for wellbeing across longer lifespans. He directs the Shaping Connections program and cocoordinates the Pathways for Healthy Ageing Network, leading collaborative projects with organisations such as U3A, local government, and community partners to strengthen digital inclusion, civic voice, and neighbourhood flourishing.
Dr Caitlin McGrane, RMIT University
Caitlin McGrane is a Research Fellow in the School of Media and Communication at RMIT. She is a digital ethnographer whose research looks at the everyday impacts and uses of technology with a particular focus on addressing inequalities and harms.
Panellists
Olivia Ng, Healthy Ageing Manager, City of Melbourne
Olivia Ng is the Healthy Ageing Manager at the City of Melbourne and holds a Master of Public Health (Social Health). Having previously managed aged care, overseeing compliance, quality, and person-centred delivery, she currently leads services that support older people to age well, with a focus on health, wellbeing and social connection.
Anne Grigg, President, U3A Victoria
After 35 years in education, Anne wasn’t ready to step away from learning communities – she simply found a new way to stay connected through U3A. What inspires her most is the power of volunteering to create connection, purpose and opportunity in U3A – 44,300 members can’t be wrong! Anne is particularly passionate about all forms of inclusion, recognising its importance in helping older people remain confident and engaged in today’s world!
Professor Jenny Waycott, The University of Melbourne
Jenny Waycott is a Professor in Human-Computer Interaction at the School of Computing and Information Systems, The University of Melbourne. Professor Waycott leads a research group that conducts interdisciplinary research investigating how technologies can be designed and used to support wellbeing, identity, and social connection in later life.
Dr Jenny Robinson, RMIT University
Jenny is passionate about how strategic communication and media technologies facilitate engaged and supportive communities with a focus on youth, seniors and vulnerable communities. Her current research focuses on social listening, public participation and digital capabilities in/with community-based organisations. She is co-lead of RMIT’s Pathways to Healthy Ageing Network.
Associate Professor Lucy Gunn, RMIT University
Associate Professor Lucy Gunn explores the role of neighbourhood environments on healthy ageing at RMIT’s Centre for Urban Research. She is lead investigator of an ARC Discovery project in this area, providing research evidence for informing urban planning and health policies to support ageing well in place.
Organised by: Centre for Organisations and Social Change, RMIT
