Using the potential of Best Agers

Pan Baltic Regions Network for Innovative Age Management

With demographic change - recently defined as one of the four key challenges for European regions by the EC - and the current economic crisis looming, the cities and regions of the Baltic Sea Region have to find creative ways of disclosing and utilizing unused opportunities. One of these hidden potentials are people in the prime of their lives – the so called “Best Agers”.

As different projects have shown, the population of the Baltic Sea Region will rapidly become older and the 55+ age groups will experience large growth rates in the near future. The result will be a pool of older professionals who are healthier than ever, well-educated and motivated and who can be mobilised to counteract the negative effects of demographic change - shrinking regional workforces and the so called "brain drain".

The Best Agers Project, a pan Baltic Regions Network for Innovative Age Management, will survey successful approaches and good practice examples, develop them further and transfer them to the partner regions with low-key Best Ager involvement. Best agers as defined in the project are people aged 55 and older. Together, all 19 partners - representing all sectors - will form a cross-generational innovation environment, where Best Agers work together with different age groups in the fields of business and skills development to generate new ideas and share their expertise and experience.

What is age management about?
Age management is about dealing with all age groups in work life and can be used for keeping best agers longer in work. For this project age management means using the knowledge and experience of professionals in their primes to foster business and skills development in the Baltic Sea Region. Best agers are a huge potential and can facilitate the generation shift on labour markets if postponing their retirement. All interested regions, organisations, institutions can join the BSR Network for Innovative Age Management. The objective is that members can find other stakeholders and/or events concerning demography and age management. Learning what has worked elsewhere might make it easier for regions to adapt. This is what this network is for - connecting and learning.

Within the project the documentary "Best Agers - Meeting Demographic Change" has been produced. The film portraits four people from four countries at the crossroads between working life and retirement. Watch the four episodes and see how exciting and full of important decisions life can be even when you think you have seen it all! "Some of our experience and know-how might be old-fashioned, but I believe that we still have a lot to offer." Kerstin-Sofia Andersson, 70, Entrepreneur and Consultant in Sweden

For more information you can download the Study Results and Recommendations of the Best Agers Project: The Labour Market and Demographic Change in the Baltic Sea Region.

Picture Copyright: Bernhard Benge via Flickr

Updated: 18. March 2013