Ageing in the Arctic

Elderly falls, social isolation and depression in winter is under-researched. Any sustainable solutions must be built from the target groups insights and involve several different disciplines.

Issue: “Ageing in the Arctic” is a multi-disciplinary, private/public collaboration that aims to understand how services and urban spaces can be better adapted to the elderly in winter. Long winters increase the risk of falls and loneliness, which has a major impact on cost, health and quality of life. Social isolation in the elderly increase dementia risk by 50% with overall health risks equivalent to 15 cigarettes/day . Whilst common, these issues are rarely tackled in the context of long, arctic winters. Our project, which is supported by Design og Arkitektur Norge’s “Inclusive cities” programme and Norges Forskningsrådets “Pilot Helse” program, is a collaboration between Bodø municipality and AT Arkitektur.
Our team reflects that wellbeing is holistic. We consist of a general practitioner (specialising in frailty and hospital-admission prevention), architects, urban designers and municipal service providers close to the target group.

Description of the problem: We’re adopting the service design method - placing the user at the centre and exploring the problem without preconceptions. Our method facilitates the user to shape their own needs, highlight their biggest challenges, and suggest improvements. Information will be obtained by interviews, interactive digital tools, small group discussions and city walks with accessibility ratings. Residents will be encouraged to contribute with their own input and in various formats. This qualitative data will be complimented by relevant quantitative data analysis.
Simultaneously, we will be mapping services and infrastructure around the elderly (services, meeting places, transport, activity offers, urban space) that influence their day-to-day activitites. Information extracted from user interviews / group discussions and city walks can be input into the corresponding places on the map to give a rounded and evolving sense of accessibility in the centre of Bodø. We are confident that methods and learning from this project can be applied to all winter areas.

Results: We are currently collecting insights from users and service providers. This will continue untill April 2023. By the time of the conference in September, we will have gathered our insights and be able to present our findings.

Lessons: We believe that we have a responsibility to try and create an environment that the elderly not only survive but thrive. This project hopes to set out the challenges and opportunities of the Arctic winter through their eyes and words. The insights from Phase One will constitute the foundations and direction for the solution phases. From this common understanding we believe different disciplines can coalesce and cooperate with the elderly to develop sustainable and impactful change.