News & Events
Dan Burden from the Walkable and Livable Communities Institute visits Portland and leads a walkability assessment for the Institute on Aging, AARP Oregon and about 50 interested community members!
Download Dan's presentation here:
Portland officially becomes a member of the World Health Organization's Global Network of Age-Friendly Cities
On Wednesday, June 8, 2011, IOA director Dr. Margaret Neal and doctoral candidate Alan DeLaTorre, along with community partners Vicki Hersen (Elders in Action) and Jerry Cohen (AARP Oregon), presented to Portland City Council the official certificate of membership to the World Health Organization (WHO) Global Network of Age-Friendly Cities on behalf of the WHO.
In spring 2010, based on the work done as a part of the original Age-Friendly Cities Project in Portland and the work being conducted by the City on its Portland Plan and Comprehensive Plan, the City of Portland, via the IOA, applied for membership in the WHO's Global Network of Age-Friendly Cities. To be accepted, a city had to commit to undertaking a process of continually assessing and improving its age friendliness. The goals of the Network are to facilitate exchange of information and best practices among members and ensure that interventions are appropriate, sustainable, cost-effective, and involve older adults throughout the process.
In June 2010, Portland was 1 of only 9 cities accepted as the initial members of the Global Network of Age-Friendly Cities. In late spring 2011, an official certificate of membership arrived at the offices of the IOA, and so arrangements were made to present it to City Council, along with sample findings from the original baseline study and plans for continued work in the future.
