Big boost for innovators in ageing

Along with $100,000 in grants, a new initiative will provide $40,000 in mentoring to nurture innovators and their big ideas about ageing.

 

Carolyn Curtis
Carolyn Curtis

A new national search is underway to uncover and nurture novel ideas and innovations that support positive and productive ageing.

The Innovation in Ageing Challenge will reward initiatives that ensure “our longer lives are full and flourishing” with $100,000 in funding and $40,000 in mentoring and business development.

The initiative, which is being led by South Australia’s Office for the Ageing and The Australian Centre for Social Innovation (TACSI), is the first ageing-specific challenge in Australia.

Carolyn Curtis, chief executive of TACSI, said the challenge aimed to support people with passion and ideas, “and help them take those ideas to the next level.”

TACSI ran a similar Bold Ideas Better Lives Challenge in 2010, which aimed to identify social innovations that addressed community issues and problems.

Ms Curtis said that with Australia’s ageing population the public discussion tended to focus on the related challenges, but there would also be “great opportunities”.

“Rather than reacting to an ageing population, how do we plan for it, how do we actually create the most opportunity out of it in terms of having lots of people with very rich skills, who have had great careers, and have huge capacity to give back and provide value to the country.”

She said there were benefits to using the challenge approach, rather than the traditional grants model, as a means of identifying and nurturing innovators.

“It’s about bringing new ideas, new skillsets and new people into government departments or institutions. It’s about looking at alternative business models to tackle some of the complex social issues we face in this country”

As part of the challenge, TACSI provides capacity building support to the entrants, she said. “We support people quite rigorously; we put a lot of effort into helping them build their business models, test the assumptions behind their business models, and shape and develop their idea.”

The two categories in the Innovation in Ageing Challenge are:

  1. How can we enable Boomers to connect, contribute to their communities and live the lives they want?
  2. How can we enable older people living alone to connect, contribute to their communities and live the lives they want?

For those interested in taking part, Ms Curtis advised visiting the challenge website, calling TACSI (08 7325 4994) or emailing (challenge@tacsi.org.au) for more information.

“Thinking creatively, outside the box, is strongly encouraged here, and to have a go,” she said. “It’s a fantastic process to be a part of. Whether you end up winning or not, you’ll gain a huge amount out of the experience in terms of making connections, networks, and potentially participating in some workshops to build capability around innovative business models and thinking.”

Applications for the Innovation in Ageing Challenge close on 12 September 2014.

Tags: Carolyn Curtis, innovation, positive ageing, productive-ageing, South Australia’s Office for the Ageing, The Australian Centre for Social Innovation, The Innovation in Ageing Challenge,

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