Looking more in depth for strategic planning for future investments

ELEVATE – Activities under Specific Objective 1

The activities under Specific Objective 1 had been concentrated on sharing knowledge and best practices beyond the borders of the projects and collecting valuable feedback on how to better shape the ELEVATE vision for the next steps.

Bucharest: training, the draft model and EUSDR guidance

At the 3rd ELEVATE project meeting, hosted by DGASPC Sector 6 (PP11) in Bucharest on 5–6 May 2026, a dedicated SO1 session led by Irina Panait (URBASOFIA) opened the first day's working programme. It had three parts:

•        Training on Communication Strategy – a session dedicated to how to best communicate about social inclusion for the older people and people with disabilities, delivered by Mihaela Tudor, external expert engaged by URBASOFIA. Project partners looked into how to also get on board different stakeholders for the great cause of adding layers for a more inclusive territorial development in the future.

•        The draft ELEVATE model – Irina Panait presented the draft place-based governance model that partners will test and refine through their pilot actions.

•        Strengthening cooperation – Andreea Prasacu, from EUSDR Priority Area 10 “Institutional Capacity and Cooperation”, shared recommendations for embedding the partnership's work in wider Danube-region cooperation.

The session built on the morning's lectures on age-friendly media (Carmen Stadelhofer, ILEU) and on recent population ageing policies (Aleš Kenda, Slovenian Ministry of Solidarity-Based Future). It was followed by study visits to the Sector 6 Seniors' Club and the Xchange Social Store, two local examples of active ageing and dignity-first social support. This meeting in Bucharest anchored the ELEVATE project more into the realities of aging population, regional development and good practices in various areas to shape the road for the ELEVATE model better for the cities from the Danube Region.

Ulm: taking the model to the Danube Festival

In July 2026, URBASOFIA carried SO1's knowledge-exchange mission to the Danube Festival in Ulm and Neu-Ulm, Germany. Over three days, participants visited the Generationentreff, the University of the Third Age at Ulm University and an intergenerational housing project, and attended sessions on fall prevention and digital tools that help older adults live independently. At the “Democracy Needs Everyone” conference on 10 July, Irina Panait moderated Table 19, Democracy and Age, a roundtable on why social security and democratic participation go hand in hand. She also presented the ELEVATE model in the afternoon working group, showing how the partnership is turning the age-friendly city concept into concrete tools, policies and practices.

Looking ahead: Society Fair in Ceje “Regions 2030+: Building Resilient, Competitive and Investment-Attractive Communities”

The ELEVATE project had a great representation at the Society Fair in Celje, through the participation of all project partners and the organization of a workshop dedicated to “New Governance for New Development, with the support of ELEVATE”. This workshop was moderated by Irina Panait (URBASOFIA) who extracted some key conclusions on how investments should be planned in the future with the support for presentations and visual materials showing 4 good practices from the project. The audience had the chance to ask questions and find out more about how these good practices had changed the vision of local societies and made a difference for the elderly and people with disabilities in the region.

Together, these activities strengthened partners' communication capacity, gave the draft ELEVATE model its first transnational visibility, and connected the project to EUSDR and to civil-society and research networks. The model now feeds directly into SO2, where pilot partners test it on the ground, and into SO3, which will mainstream it through stakeholder events and policy dialogue across the Danube region.

Author: Irina Panait, URBASOFIA