Barcelona hosts three inspiring days of innovation and collaboration in healthy ageing!

From 6 to 7 May, COMFORTage held its third General Assembly in Barcelona (and its first joint event with the STAGE project), hosted by Ace Alzheimer Center and the TIC Salut Social Foundation. The two days brought together consortium partners for strategic planning, technical alignment and collaborative workshops in preparation for the first review of the project by the European Commission.

Key objectives included improving the project’s narrative, updating the technical approach and system architecture, pinpointing critical gaps, and advancing plans for the coming months. The interactive sessions allowed partners to square up technical tasks, assess the status of pilot projects, and clarify responsibilities across all work packages. Special emphasis was placed on ensuring the relevance of the stakeholders involved and charting the path towards the adoption of the platform and its social impact.

Partners participated in interdisciplinary exchanges that reinforced their shared commitment to innovation, collaboration and excellence in digital health and personalised care to address frailty and dementia. The activity sessions helped consolidate the project strategy and strengthen its alignment with Horizon Europe objectives.

The assembly came to a close with a joint event on May 8 at the emblematic Casa Convalescència (Hospital de la Santa Creu i Sant Pau), as part of the Ageing Deal initiative. With the collaboration of THE STAGE project and participation in the SMILE project, the conference brought together researchers, policy makers, healthcare professionals and innovators from across Europe, including representatives from the European Commission, Catalan organisations and innovative SMEs.

The agenda highlighted key topics such as:

• Integrated and person-centred care models
• Digital transformation of health and care systems
• Social innovation and service provision
• Empowerment of citizens and the role of older people in defining their healthcare future

The debates and workshops provided a practical space for the creation of new alliances, laying the groundwork for future joint initiatives and scalable solutions to address the challenges of European demographic change.

The event was a powerful reminder that ageing is not a challenge to be overcome, rather a value to be embraced, inspiring collective initiatives for a healthier and more inclusive society for all. Through science, technology and a human-centred design, the COMFORTage project and its partners are redefining how we age, with the goal of a healthier, fairer and more inclusive society across all generations.