Purpose:
To include the voices and perspectives of older people within the HOMeAGE doctoral training network, embedding ‘on-the-ground’ experiences of older adult advocates, and the organisations that they represent.
Objectives:
Reference Panel Members are:
Laura Christ is a social gerontologist (MA). She worked as coordinator of the Working Group Sociology-Social Gerontology at Netherlands Institute for Social Sciences/SISWO, was director of the National Office to combat Age Discrimination (LBL), coordinator of the Center for Ageing Issues (CVO/VU), head of the Knowledge Center Older People (Netherlands Institute Care and Welfare, NIZW). From 2002 until her retirement in 2020 she participated in Grundtvig – and Erasmus+ partnerships with a focus on the contributions and participation of older people in society. Laura is member of Netherlands Association of Social Gerontology, board member of Older Women’s Network Netherlands and member of Older Women Network Europe. She participates in AGE Platform Europe Taskforces with a focus on human rights, ageism, advocacy, gender equality and age-friendly environments. Themes that have been a common thread in her career. Laura is mother of three children, grandmother of nine grandchildren. She lives with her husband in Amsterdam (NL).
Rodd Bond was founder and director of the Netwell Centre, within the School of Health and Science at Dundalk Institute of Technology. Rodd graduated in architecture from Oxford Brookes University in 1982 launching a career that spanned from hospital master planning in the USA and Pakistan, to ageing-and-place research and innovation in Europe. Rodd’s core interest is ‘design as systematics’, and the interrelationship between environmental structure and peoples’ health and wellbeing. Rodd supported the formative stages of the WHO’s age-friendly cities movement, and is committed to human development through place-making, and social innovation. Rodd supported the European Commission in the development of the first Action Plan for Innovations in Age-Friendly Buildings, Cities and Environments, within the European Innovation Partnership on Active & Healthy Ageing. Since 2019, Rodd has been working independently across architectural practice, policy and research, taking inspiration from people, place and planet.
Vasileios (Vassili) Louziotis holds a BA in Economics (University of Athens, Greece) and an MBA (Louisiana State University). He was employed by Mobil (later ExxonMobil) for 35 years, holding various positions, initially in the Greek affiliate and later in the European Organization of the company, based in London and Brussels. His last position (2004 – 2009) was Training Manager for Europe,Africa and the Middle East. Following his retirement, he served as an Advisor to the Greek Confederation of Pensioners (2013– 2015) and is a member of the Advisory Board of 50Plus Hellas, an NGO focusing on the rights ofolder people (2015 – present). He also represents 50Plus Hellas in the Council of AGE Platform Europe, an umbrella organization of more than 100 NGOs from across Europe.
Soteris Avgoustis is general secretary of PA.SY.D.Y. Pensioners Union since 2010. His degree is in political sciences from Pantion University of Athens, Greece. The main goals of the union is to safeguard and promote the interests of its members, to organize excursions, dinners and other recreational activities for its members, to organize lectures and other informative activities, and to cooperate with European and International organisations promoting the interests of the pensioners. It also cooperates with similar organizations from other countries.
Amanda T. Warren – FATEC – Federation of Seniors Associations of Catalunya, volunteer, Barcelona, Spain. At FATEC for 3 years, I participate in projects to reduce the digital divide and those involving international collaboration. I am also a volunteer at Amics de la Gent Gran (Friends of the Elderly) where we work to reduce loneliness in older people via personal companionship and activities. Professionally, I am a project manager in Urban Mobility and have two decades of experience in Germany and Spain in marketing communication. Furloughed from the Volkswagen Group during the Covid-19 pandemic, I started Vidalii which offers remote tech help to older adults to resolve any challenge requested. Recently, I have invested in VERMUT, an app which has created a space for people with years of life experience to make new friends and enjoy endless activities they can also offer themselves. In a next career step I hope to do project management in the senior sector, perhaps around urban mobility.
Katalin Papp graduated as a paediatric nurse and worked in the paediatric unit. After a few years she went back to a secondary school to teach nursing students. When the BSc nurse program started in Hungary – in 1993 – she applied for the University of Debrecen Faculty of Health. Her qualifications are: paediatric nurse, nurse-teacher BA, pedagogy MA and education organizer MA. In 2010 she received her PhD degree in Health Science. She participated in the teamwork – in the developing and redeveloping the curricula for BSc health workers as well as for the MSc nurse education. She presented oral or poster presentations. She takes part in international conferences or congresses five or six times a year. She is often a member of international research projects. She organizes local and international meetings, seminars and conferences. She has been on business trips in many European countries. She is an editor of a national professional journal and three international journals. She is a reviewer of four international journals. She wrote 89 articles. She wrote textbooks for health care students. She is a member of ETNA and ENNE international associations. She is a board member of the Chamber of Hungarian Health Care Professionals and her responses for international relationships.
