Designing Greener Age-Inclusive Cities: Insights from the GreenCity4Aging Final Workshop

CIS-Iscte
4 days ago
2 min read

The Final Workshop of the GreenCity4Aging project was held at Iscte – University Institute of Lisbon on October 24, 2025, bringing together researchers, practitioners, and policy-makers to discuss the effects of urban green walks on mobility, social integration, and perceptions of ageing.

Opening remarks by representatives of Iscte, Santa Casa da Misericórdia de Lisboa (SCML), CIS-Iscte, and ISTAR-Iscte, stressed the value of collaboration between academia and social organizations in creating sustainable, age-inclusive cities. Then, the GreenCity4Aging team presented the project's key findings on the relation between green spaces and older adults’ well-being.

The first roundtable, entitled “Growing Older, Living Greener: A Gerontological Perspective”, featured a keynote by Moritz Hess (Hochschule Niederrhein, Germany). The discussion, moderated by Sibila Marques (CIS-Iscte), included contributions from Teresa Marat-Mendes (DINÂMIA'CET-Iscte) and Ana Louro (IGOT – University of Lisbon), who reflected on the connections between ageing, environmental sustainability, and urban planning. The second roundtable, “New Forms of Mobility: Cycling Infrastructure & Behaviour Change”, featured the keynote speaker Willem Snel (Mott MacDonald, Netherlands). The discussion, moderated by André Samora-Arvela (ISTAR-Iscte), included Bruno Maia (EMEL – Lisbon Municipal Mobility and Parking Company) and Rosa Félix (IST – Instituto Superior Técnico), and focused on new forms of sustainable mobility and the promotion of cycling as an urban transport mode.

In the afternoon, Sibila Marques (CIS-Iscte) presented a synthesis of the project results, followed by Filomena Gerardo (SCML), who described the process of participant engagement and the project’s social and community dimensions. The final roundtable, “Equity in Motion: Public Participation and Age-Friendly Cities”, featured a keynote by Pedro Homem Gouveia (Polis Network). The panel, moderated by Sara Eloy (University of Antwerp/ISTAR-Iscte), included Pedro Nave (Lisbon City Council), Mário Alves (Estrada Viva Association), and Elisabete Arsénio (National Laboratory for Civil Engineering – LNEC), who discussed strategies to make cities more equitable, participatory, and accessible for older populations.

The event concluded with a collective reflection on the future challenges of promoting green and age-friendly cities, emphasizing the importance of collaboration between universities, municipalities, and civil society.