<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><p>In the context of demographically ageing communities across rural Europe Smart Villages have considerable potential to promote ageing healthy. Whilst in principle supporting healthy ageing in the context of the Smart Village might appear a relatively straightforward endeavour, in operational terms, successful development of smart, 21<sup>st</sup> century villages relies upon, and sometimes assumes, an appropriate interplay of socio-technological factors. Articulated through a lens provided by the digital ecosystem model advocated by the European Network for Rural Development (2018), this paper offers some observations from the field. We acknowledge the challenges faced by remote rural places in their journey to become ‘smart places’ and identify formal and informal interventions that could better position rural communities to become part of a wider, smart society.</p></abstract>

In the context of demographically ageing communities across rural Europe Smart Villages have considerable potential to promote ageing healthy. Whilst in principle supporting healthy ageing in the context of the Smart Village might appear a relatively straightforward endeavour, in operational terms, successful development of smart, 21st century villages relies upon, and sometimes assumes, an appropriate interplay of socio-technological factors. Articulated through a lens provided by the digital ecosystem model advocated by the European Network for Rural Development (2018), this paper offers some observations from the field. We acknowledge the challenges faced by remote rural places in their journey to become ‘smart places’ and identify formal and informal interventions that could better position rural communities to become part of a wider, smart society.

Healthy Ageing in Smart Villages? Observations from the Field

Department of Geography and Environment, School of Geosciences

Department of Geography and International Development

European Countryside

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 License.

{"article-title":"Healthy Ageing in Smart Villages? Observations from the Field"}

In the context of demographically ageing communities across rural Europe Smart Villages have considerable potential to promote ageing healthy. Whilst in...

Healthy Ageing in Smart Villages? Observations from the Field

Published Online: Dec 30, 2019

Page range: 616 - 633

Received: Mar 22, 2019

Accepted: Oct 22, 2019

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/euco-2019-0034

Keywords
Smart Villages, digital technologies, rural, demographic ageing, ageing well

© 2019 Lorna Philip et al., published by Sciendo

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 License.

Healthy Ageing in Smart Villages? Observations from the Field

Published Online: Dec 30, 2019

Page range: 616 - 633

Received: Mar 22, 2019

Accepted: Oct 22, 2019

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/euco-2019-0034

KeywordsSmart Villages, digital technologies, rural, demographic ageing, ageing well

© 2019 Lorna Philip et al., published by Sciendo

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 License.

Keywords
Smart Villages, digital technologies, rural, demographic ageing, ageing well