Yesterday, 14th May, ALL Co-Director Mac MacLachlan joined policymakers, innovators, and industry leaders at NatWest Bank HQ in London to explore how smart multigenerational neighbourhoods can reshape community wellbeing.
The event, convened by the Agile Ageing Alliance (AAA) and chaired by founding Director Ian Spero, spotlighted the urgent need to rethink care models, shifting from institutional settings to integrated, neighbourhood-based approaches.
Mac contributed to a session on "Reimagining Care in the Community – From Research to Transformation" to address the recognition that across Europe and beyond, governments and communities are recognising the urgent need to reshape how care is planned, delivered, and lived — moving from institutional models toward integrated, neighbourhood-based approaches.
The conference presented the new proposed ISO 25553 standard on "Smart Multigenerational Neighbourhoods" as part of a year-long consultation process. This work, led by Ian Spiro, developed from AAA's role in the SHAPES project which was led by the ALL Institute. Mac refers to the standard simply as "the standard for living" and notes that "this is just one of the wonderful living legacies of the SHAPES project, but one that will have global implications by providing an international framework for ageing well through the International Standards Organisation (ISO)".
SHAPES researchers will also be presenting more of this impactful work at the AAATE 2025 Conference in Cyprus this September.
Learn more about SHAPES: https://shapes2020.eu/
