Over the fall of 2012 and early 2013, CitySpaces worked with the Town of Gibsons to complete an Age-Friendly Community Action Plan to address the needs and capacities of people from all age groups within the community. The Age-Friendly Community Action Plan provided a “road map” of policy directions and actions that set a path forward towards a more age-friendly future for the Town of Gibsons.
Responding to the Age-Friendly Community Initiative launched in 2006 by the World Health Organization, the Town of Gibsons established a challenge through its 2012-2014 Strategic Plan to make Gibsons more inclusive of the varying needs and capacities of people from all age groups.
Gibsons faces key challenges in planning for an age-friendly community. One is the topographical barrier between Gibsons’ two distinct geographical areas Gibsons Landing and Upper Gibsons. The steep change in elevation makes travel between them difficult without a private vehicle. Another is that Gibsons lacks many services, like a hospital, that are available in other communities on the Coast. These age-friendly challenges are heightened by Gibsons’ increasingly aging population, making it important to attract and retain young people and to better connect youth and seniors.
CitySpaces applied its in-house database of age-friendly planning and policy research in its review of the Town’s Official Community Plan in order to identify possible age-friendly community planning, policy and initiatives. In addition, CitySpaces developed an innovative Wiki-style website to accommodate community input into the evolving review of the Town’s existing policies.
CitySpaces initiated a broad reaching Age-Friendly Working Group made up of local participants from a good cross-section of the community. In addition, CitySpaces organized and offered the community a evening forum to learn about what an Age-Friendly Community looks and feels like; offering a noteworthy key note speaker and highlighting ideas from around the world. Further community participation was achieved through additional community meetings, direct local expert interviews and outreach efforts with youth at Elphinstone Secondary School.
PROJECT TEAM:
Ken Berglund