By 2021 it is estimated that more than 25% of Victoria’s population will be over 60. In some regional areas it is estimated to reach almost 50%.

Council on the Ageing (COTA) Victoria and two Melbourne artists are facing these developments with the creative approach of storytelling, one of the oldest art forms and ways of sharing experience. Throughout history older people have been humanity’s consummate storytellers. COTA Victoria, the peak body for older people in Victoria, provides a platform for them to tell their unique stories, to participate and belong to a community that strives to be respectful and age-friendly. But what does being age-friendly even mean? By listening to stories of older people we will find out what they understand of an age-friendly world.

As Event Coordinator and Research Volunteer, I am responsible for organising COTA’s first interactive art exhibition about growing older in the community and the meaning of age-friendliness. Participative observations and narrative analysis will help to understand what the concept of age-friendliness for senior’s means as well as how and where age-friendly interventions can happen.

A further analysis of the story material will be indicated on the COTA Victoria Website.