About | Age Friendly University

About Age-Friendly University

Welcome                             

Welcome to the Age-Friendly University (AFU) initiative at DCU.

Since its earliest days DCU has been committed to widening access to higher education, and this includes enhancing the lives of older members of our community through our innovative educational programmes, research agenda, curriculm development, online education, health and wellness activities,  arts and culture programme and civic engagement opportunities.

Reporting to the President of DCU, Professor Brian MacCraith, an interdisciplinary working group set out to identify the distinctive contributions that could be made by higher education institutions in addressing the needs of older adults. As a result, a set of 10 generic principles for an 'Age-Friendly University' was established and  the AFU was joined by Arizona State University (ASU) and University of Strathclyde (Scotland).

AnTaoiseach, Enda Kenny TD  who launched the initiative on November 9th  2012 said:

"Through this initiative, DCU is taking a leadership role in preparing society for the multifaceted challenges of our aging demographic. It will actively encourage older people to come into our higher education institutions and to become involved in shaping university programmes. The age friendly activities being promoted are both relevant and correctly targeted at promoting the quality of life of our older men and women. It is truly a pioneering initiative and I wish you the very best of luck in the coming years.  (Age-Friendly University initiative formally launched) 

Listen here to our President, Prof, Brian Mac Craith's Welcome Message 

In 2014, Mr. Trevor Holmes Vice President for Strategic and External Affairs was appointed as Chairperson of a newly formed AFU Implementation Team.  With the support of the Age Friendly University Network Coordinator, Ms. Christine O'Kelly, the AFU network is growing steadily and membership has exceeded over 60 universities representing Europe, North America, and South East Asia.

Read about the Age-Friendly Six Pillars that  contribute to informing the work of DCU, the world's first Age-Friendly University. 

We also invite you to read the details of our External Advisory Board (established in 2012).

DCU AFU are also proud to be members of the European Innovation Partnership, a founder member of the Covenant on Demographic Change and have are endorsed by the Academy for Gerontology in  Higher Education and the International Federation on Ageing.

Whether you are a potential participant, a researcher or partner organisation we invite your active engagement with us.