On the 18th September, the Louth EU_SHAFE partner in conjunction with Louth Age Friendly County made a submission to “Review to Renew”, the National Development Plan’s public consultation.
The submission highlighted that both Louth Age Friendly County and the Louth EU_SHAFE Project are committed to a “Smarter, Greener and more connected Louth” in line with both the EU’s Strategic Priorities of A Smarter Europe, A Greener low carbon Europe, A more connected Europe, A more Social Europe and A Europe closer to its citizens and the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals, in particular Goal 3 – Good Health and Wellbeing, Goal 7 – Affordable and clean energy, Goal 11- Sustainable cities and communities and Goal 13 – Climate Action.
Approaching development through the lens of SHAFE we submitted that future capital investment should be spent across a range of thematic objectives including, Housing, Healthcare, Transport, Energy Efficiency/Retro-fitting and closing the digital divide for our older people in an integrated approach to creating Smart Health Age Friendly Environments in Ireland.
The submission highlighted that delivering on the priorities set out in sustainable and adaptable housing, AF public realm infrastructure, energy efficient homes and retro-fitting along with investment in new health care models would not only improve the quality of life of all of our citizens across the age spectrum but would also create economic opportunities through the digital market, labour market, environmental market the health and care market and the housing market. The application of Age Friendly principles and delivering on sustainable goals across all capital investment would help to create sustainable age friendly communities but make Ireland a better place to live and grow old.
The full submission can be accessed at www.louthcoco.ie/en/services/communities/programmes/louth-age-friendly/eu_shafe-interreg-europe-news/
