Although I attended the Leading to Well-Being Conference, am writing first about the Japanese-Swiss Joint Workshop, in due deference to it happening the previous week (and the reality that I have - alas - so little information to currently share).
What I would give to talk to one of the people attending the Tokyo workshop, jointly hosted by the Japan Science and Technology Agency (JST) & the University of Zurich. It drew in people from a broad range of institutions & academic disciplines focused on healthy aging.
Why the collaboration between Japan & Switzerland? Both face daunting demographic challenges*, far more dire than we're currently facing here in the USA. With similar problems & different approaches, pooling their strengths & broadening their individual views seem an ideal match.
Workshop chairs Prof. Dr. Mihoko Otake (Department of Mechanical Engineering, Chiba University) and Prof. Dr. Mike Martin (Managing
Director of the University Research Priority Program Dynamics of
Healthy Aging, University of Zurich).
As much as I'd loved to have experienced the energy as participants gave their presentations (am sure they would have been waaaay over my head), would far more have delighted in the receptions that followed each evening & other mingling opportunities.
The dinner held by University of Zurich (UZH) alums in Japan honoring UZH Vice President Prof. Dr. Christian Schwarzenegger ’s was a relatively small but mighty, with 28 guests – a lecturer, professors,
exchange students, UZH alumni, along with a few honored others - enjoying good food & fellowship & a presentation by workshop Co-Chair Mike Martin on his career & his research field, which bridges the gap between clinical & behavioral gerontology. Oh, to have been there & have the understanding to appreciate all he & they shared!
And then there was the road road trip to Kashiwa-no-ha Smart City! A "next-generation model city", Kashiwa-no-ha has a rich history & an intriguing future.
For hundreds of years, its plateau was famous for horse breeding. In the mid-1800s, horse breeding gave way (by edict) to settlements & agriculture. Fast forward to the late 1900s. Under Mitsui Hachiroemon Takayoshi (the 8th head of the Mitsui
clan!), president of Mitsui Fudosan (dating back to 1673), the land was designated for building schools, shrines & other
development. That "other development" is pretty astonishing. Aiming to be "An Urban Model for Our Future," Kashiwa-no-ha features three innovative living models - one centered aroundthe environment, one around industry, and the third called "a city of health & longevity." What incredible energies must have flowed as workshop participants explored the city! (Note to self - learn more about Kashiwa-no-ha!)
While I'm sure the Japanese-Swiss Joint Workshop on Aging, Health, and Technology would have been over my head, am equally sure that just being there, soaking in the energies & feeling the zooming vibes, would have been priceless.
It gladdens my heart & uplifts my spirits, seeing all the time energy resources being poured into an epic rethink & reset of how we - as cultures & a planet - view experience nurture our communities through nurturing our aged & elderly. More, please!
Japan and Switzerland are among the top three countries worldwide in terms of life expectancy. But Japan is ten years ahead of Switzerland in terms of demographic aging, with 29 percent of the Japanese population already over age 65. In Switzerland this age group accounts for only 18 percent of the population, although in ten years’ time it is likely to have reached the level of Japan. This makes cooperation with Japan on research into aging especially interesting. The fact that both countries have a strong scientific and academic basis in terms of engineering, the social sciences, and medicine also creates a good foundation for cooperation. Research into aging, health, and technology requires the interplay of all these disciplines.
What conclusions did the workshop reach?
Everyone taking part agreed that there’s great potential for using modern technologies in the service of health, especially health in old age. So far this technology has been used almost exclusively for people who are ill. But the numbers of healthy older people are much greater, and these people would also benefit in terms of preserving their quality of life.
Our workshop was also designed to enable us to exchange these technologies and share know-how between Switzerland and Japan. In the next few weeks we’ll see .
No comments:
Post a Comment