Our events

The elderly population and their communities are voices seldom heard in research, and this event is for everyone looking to involve older people in their research.

During the event, participants will get the opportunity to hear about tried and tested means of involving older people from diverse communities. The speakers come from backgrounds in engineering and healthcare and are striving to undertake research to the benefit of older people:

• Dr Ioannis Delis, School of Biomedical Sciences, will introduce the speakers and the Reimagine Ageing Network.
• Dr Zhiqiang Zhang, Schools of Electronic and Electrical Engineering and Mechanical Engineering, will present a case study on engineering project proposal for use in older people.
• Dr Oliver Todd, School of Medicine, will talk about key principles and practical easy steps to involving older people in research and present a case study on blood pressure project designed together with older people.

The case studies will show how involving the elderly population can improve the quality and relevance research. The event will then finish with a Q&A session.

Location: Online event

Interdisciplinary approaches are needed to solve the global challenge of ageing. This event focused on how to use this Network as a platform to develop interdisciplinary research ideas and funding proposals.

Our first speaker was Ulla Kriebernegg, Director of the Centre for Interdisciplinary Research on Ageing and Care (CIRAC), University of Graz in Austria, who shared best practices and talked about challenging experiences in bringing together researchers working in a transdisciplinary and interdisciplinary way (online presentation).

The next speaker was Samantha Aspinall, Head of Interdisciplinary Research at the University of Leeds and currently on secondment to UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) to develop their cross-research council funding scheme and set up their interdisciplinary assessment college, and she discussed interdisciplinary research development and funding within UKRI with concrete examples.

Participants not only networked informally, but were also tasked with coming up with concrete research ideas across the table (literally) in smaller groups.

We welcomed over 40 colleagues to the Reimagine Ageing – Arts and Ageing event held at the stage@leeds. Attendees were a mix of both internal and external academic researchers, arts practitioners and colleagues from a range of different external organisations that support work with older people. There was a packed programme of talks, performance, Q&A sessions and round-table discussions, and artwork was displayed throughout the day.

The academic papers and presentations provided different examples and models in which the arts serve as a methodological tool in research on ageing, whereas contributions from regional organisations discussed the way the arts fit with public policy on creative health. 

The day was divided into four sessions; Researching Performance Practices and Older Adults; Arts, Ageing and Public Health; Ageing and Arts Making; Ageing and Everyday Aesthetics. There was also the chance for participants to meet each other and exchange information about their research and practice particularly focussing on the methods that are used in their work. 

The topics of the event spanned from ageing burlesque bodies and their costumes to post-retirement short film making and meaningful self-expression through creativity in older age, which made for a very unique experience.

Ageing well in a digital world is an opportunity to reimagine how we can support and empower an ageing population to lead fulfilling lives. In November 2023, the Reimagine Ageing Interdisciplinary Research Network hosted an afternoon event with interactive discussion on the design and use of digital tools for an ageing population.

Digital technology can, for instance, enhance medical tools for early disease detection, monitoring, and prognosis and help older people stay connected and live independently in their homes longer. However, there are challenges. We need to ensure that digital health technologies are inclusive, easy-to-use, and scalable as well as digital spaces being ethical and transparent. Also, any technologies must protect the human rights of the older person.

This event welcomed colleagues from across four faculties from the University of Leeds as well as external colleagues from other institutions. And representatives from 100% Digital, a programme co-led by the digital inclusion team in Leeds City Council, came to present their work and participate in the workshop sessions.

The event was opened by the Co-leads of the Network, who shared the aims and ambitions of the Reimagine Ageing Network. A workshop session was facilitated to encourage networking and share research ideas linking to the theme, and the event featured presentations by three speakers:

• Professor Arunangsu Chatterjee – Dean of Digital Transformation and Professor of Digital Health and Education, University of Leeds
• Professor Helen Thornham – Professor of Feminism, Technology & Society and Principal Investigator of the Inclusive Digital Economy Network+
• Jen Rhodes – Assistant Digital Inclusion Officer at 100% Digital Leeds, which partners across Leeds to strengthen digital inclusion infrastructure.

The presentations and much of the discussion focussed on digital inclusion/exclusion, which had been identified as one of the main challenges from the questions posed to who those who had registered for the event.