The first international conference on ‘Age-Friendly Cities’ took place in Dublin from 28 to 30 September 2011, and was attended by Ljubljana city councillor Prof Dr Miro Gorenšek.

The conference was organized by the World Health Organisation’s Age Friendly Cities Network. Ljubljana has been officially part of the WHO Age-Friendly Cities project since April 2011.

In Slovenia, the Age-Friendly Cities project is run by the Anton Trstenjak Institute. The City of Ljubljana joined the project in 2008 and in 2009 signed an accord with the Anton Trstenjak Institute. The main purpose of the project, which is also cofinanced in 2011 by funding from the City of Ljubljana, is to activate older people and include them in monitoring of the conditions or factors (living conditions, public transport, health services etc.) that affect their quality of life in the city and to forward proposals to the Mayor or the City Administration.

City councillor Prof Dr Miro Gorenšek, an orthopaedic specialist, signed the Declaration on Age-Friendly Cities (the Dublin Declaration) on behalf of the City of Ljubljana at the conference.

The content commitments of the Dublin Declaration are based on the assumptions that underlie the Age-Friendly Cities project itself:

•promotion and support activities towards the establishment of age-friendly environments,
•linkage with other cities in the network,
•awareness-raising on the needs and rights of older people,
•support to the positive contribution and active participation of older people in the different spheres of social life,
•ensuring an accessible, safe and friendly built environment and services (public buildings and spaces, residential neighbourhoods, homes for the elderly, public transport, health services).

Within the framework of its competences, the City of Ljubljana is very active in these areas, of which its signature of the Dublin Declaration is further formal confirmation.