ILC-Netherlands
Mission
International Longevity Centre the Netherlands (ILC-NL) is an independent movement of people who aim to put ageing high on the social and political agenda. The goal is to mobilise people to engage in active and healthy ageing by organising debates, media attention, and sharing research, education and expertise, both nationally and internationally.
ILC-NL is committed to the resilience and human flourishing of older people, requiring an inclusive and age-friendly environment. Vitality, meaningfulness and social belonging over the life-course are considered key aspects of good and healthy ageing. It is important to participate and be acknowledged as a full citizen without being discriminated.
Partnerships
Local
ILC-NL is represented by:
- Leyden Academy on Vitality and Ageing, a research institute whose mission is to co-create knowledge about ageing and vitality with older people and other relevant stakeholders, and making it accessible to policymakers, healthcare providers and the general public in order to improve the quality of life of older people. Core research themes include: vitality, meaning-in-life and social belonging.
And supported by:
- Vereniging Aegon represents the interests of Aegon N.V. and its constituents. Since 2007 it also supports Leyden Academy.
- Jo Visser foundation, this foundation is committed to dignified care for vulnerable older people who are permanently dependent upon care. Values such as belonging, solidarity, intergenerational encounters and community building play a leading role.
International
ILC-NL is a member of the International Longevity Center Global Alliance, an international federation of centers for active and healthy aging. The ILC Global Alliance consists of centers in Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, Czech Republic, Dominican Republic, France, Germany, India, Israel, Japan, Netherlands, Singapore, South Africa, United Kingdom and United States. These centers work both autonomously and collaboratively to study how greater life expectancy and increased proportions of older people impact on nations around the world. The priorities of the centers are:
- to identify productive aging as an important topic, not just paid employment, but also continuing talent development and contributions of older people;
- to promote educational, research and policy initiatives, advancing an active, healthy life throughout the life course.
Activities
MOOC Healthy Ageing in 6 steps
The free online course ‘Healthy Ageing in 6 Steps – Let your environment do the work’ is available on online learning platform edX and attracted almost 9.000 attendants. The goal was to inform the public on healthy choices and adjustments in their lifestyle and environment to help live a healthier, happier and longer life. This course was co-developed by Leyden Academy and the universities of Delft and Copenhagen, and partly funded by the European Union.
Click here for more information.
Silver Starters
Silver Starters is a Dutch blended educational programme, encouraging people over 50 to start their own business, thus enabling an active lifestyle, increasing employability and reducing risks of financial vulnerability and ageism. The programme, which run from October-December 2019 and attracted 60 participants, combined face-to-face events with adaptive personalized online learning, and included support of peers, business coaches and top experts.
The programme was funded by EIT Health, and organised by Leyden Academy, Aegon, Medical University Lodz, University of Naples Federico II and Institute Pedro Nunes.
The third Dutch edition will be organised from 15 February to 7 June 2022.
Click here for more information.
The health and ageing challenge
People across the globe share many of the same wants and needs as they grow older. In their annual publication AARP, America’s largest organization dedicated to empowering seniors, showcases global leadership concerning ageing-related issues, to share promising ideas so that others might be inspired and even build off them. In 2019 their special focus of the Ageing Readiness and Competitiveness Report was on the Netherlands.
Click here for more information.
Whitepaper series
Leyden Academy and Aegon Center for Longevity and Retirement reflected on retirement from different academic angles in several whitepapers: Why do we retire? (December 2018) and Health and retirement (June 2019). In the two papers that will follow, the focus will be the perspectives of well-being and the image of retirement.
Wij & corona
It is a strange, uncertain and frightening time, especially for healthcare organizations and older people. The corona virus largely freezes public life. Especially the measures to keep distance from each other and to stay at home drastically changes our lives. How do seniors in the Netherlands experience these exceptional times? What do they worry about, what gives them hope and comfort, how do they spend the day? At the Dutch platform Wij & corona (translated into Us & corona) we collect their stories and give them a stage to share their experiences. The stories provide distraction, recognition and guidance.
Art for seniors health and well-being
There is growing evidence for the positive impact of arts and culture on the health and social well-being of senior adults. Studies show that art-based interventions can have a positive effect on an individual, interpersonal, and societal level. But the evidence for effectiveness is still fragmented. Moreover, there is a lack of appropriate research on and evaluation of the implementation of arts-based interventions for seniors. Filling these gaps, in this two-year research project, Leyden Academy and Amsterdam UMC will evaluate the impact, implementation, and sustainability of 15 art-based initiatives and 4 arts-programs for older people in the Dutch long-term care setting.
Click here for more information.
Management Team
Prof. T.A. Abma, President
Y.J. Schinkel-Koemans, Communication
Contact information
ILC-Netherlands
c/o Leyden Academy on Vitality and Ageing
Rijnsburgerweg 10
2333 AA Leiden
The Netherlands
Phone: +31 71 5240960
Email: koemans@leydenacademy.nl
Website: www.leydenacademy.nl/ilc-the-netherlands/
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Documents:
Annual Activity Report ILC Netherlands 2023 (PDF)
ILC-Netherlands Annual Activity Report 2021 (PDF)
Productive ageing in the Netherlands 2-5-2012 (PDF)
Innovations in Housing and Care Schemes – Pioneering Citizen’s Initiatives (PDF)
Healthy Ageing and Disease Prevention: The Case in South Africa and the Netherlands (PDF)
