Identifying the economic value of Intergenerational projects
Category
This is the second part of a content series about Intergenerational Value. Follow along to see how your housing, care, education and public projects and developments can benefit from catering for people of diverse ages. Read Part 1 ‘Unearthing the value of intergenerational projects’ here.
The importance of the dollar story
There are plenty of heart-warming and moving stories of individual and small-scale transformation via InterGenerational (IG) projects, as anyone who watched the popular Old People’s Home for 4 Year Olds knows. It’s something I feel passionately about, having had my own personal experience of IG living in Florence, Italy, which I shared in Never Too Small magazine. And recent research is providing a strong evidence base for what communities and cultures have known for millennia: living intergenerationally offers myriad social and health benefits.
Now we need to also map the economic story. Because the potential for large-scale IG transformation is currently lying dormant.
The language of numbers
As Wiradjuri paleoecologist Professor Michael-Shawn Fletcher says, ‘data speaks to power’. Especially data related to money and finances. That’s why we need to make the business case for IG practice, and understand its economic impact in the short, medium and long-term – to properly value its approach and outcomes.
The Australian Institute of Intergenerational Practice believes that IG practice is ‘not just nice, it’s wise’.
- Socially & emotionally – yes.
- Medically – definitely.
- Economically? I believe so.
So I’m setting out to investigate, gather and share the dollar stories of IG projects. Because in the current context of housing shortages, a challenging economy, ageing population and epidemic-proportion loneliness, the need to fully harness the potential of IG practice has never been greater.
Photo by Thirdman via Pexels
Who is it relevant for?
- If you’re an architect, planner, developer or placemaker looking to embed ongoing value and resilience in your projects
- If you’re an innovative business owner operating in housing or care provision, who is keen to set new benchmarks
- If you’re responsible or part of a multigenerational workforce that depends on the distillation and transfer of knowledge
- If you’re an educator that understands the power of innovation as a leading edge
- If you’re cultivating resilient communities and the intrinsic value of your council or region
You deserve to know how intergenerational ideas can
streamline and supercharge your impact.
So, I invite you to follow the series as we unpack numbers, data, case studies and insights on:
- Intergenerational housing and living projects
- Intergenerational care facilities
- Intergenerational workplaces
- Intergenerational cities and regions
Want to hear more? Subscribe at the footer to stay tuned
