Keynote speakers

For any AAL Forum regular, Peter Saraga will be a familiar figure, seen every year enthusiastically parading the exhibition floor, speaking at workshops and taking part in plenary debates covering all aspects of active and healthy ageing. Of course, he will be at the forum again in Bilbao in September, but this year will be his first as the President of AAL, a position that gives him the chance to set out a clear vision for the programme as it enters the last two years of its current funding cycle and looks confidently into the future. Saraga, who spent much of his working life involved in the development of technological innovation with Philips, believes he is taking over the AAL...Read More

Lambert van Nistelrooij, Member of European Parliament and co-chair of the Intergroup on Active Ageing, Intergenerational Solidarity and Family Policies, will be speaking at the AAL Forum 2017 and will provide an insight into the role the Internet of Things plays in the future success of active and assisted living, and the opportunities from society’s innovative ideas. With an expansive career spanning social geography and demography, Lambert will bring an abundance of knowledge on society, the ageing population, and innovation to the forum. As the life-expectancy of people has continued to rise, and the number of sufferers of such conditions as dementia also increases, there has been a constant progression of innovative solutions, projects and programmes to tackle these problems –...Read More

Sonia Martinez Arca will be attending the AAL Forum 2017 as a keynote speaker in plenary one and will be bringing with her years of experience working in the Galician Health Ministry, Spain, as a regional innovation expert. We talk with Sonia about how public administration can foster the development and the implementation of innovative solutions using public procurement of innovation in regional healthcare systems.  Having had an extensive research career, PhD, and profession as a pharmacist, Sonia moved away from ‘bench’ science into work that was more applied to the real world. Spanning almost 10 years, Sonia has a lot of expertise in the field of science innovation and management that she was able to bring to the regional...Read More

Bringing with her the perspective and knowledge of a first-hand career, Brigitte Bührlen, founder and chair of We! Foundation of Caring Relatives, is sure to provide an interesting perspective during her plenary one presentation at the AAL Forum 2017. Brigitte looked after her mother, who suffered from dementia, for 20 years. After moving into her parent’s home, together with her husband and three children, the challenges became too much of a strain on all the family and they accepted professional care. After the death of her mother, in 2010 Brigitte founded We! Foundation following years of directing self-help groups of caring relatives. The purpose of the foundation is twofold. Firstly, there is the side that promotes and encourages carers to...Read More

Carina Dantas, director of the Innovation Department at Cáritas Diocesana de Coimbra, Portugal, has been invited to participate as a keynote speaker at the AAL Forum 2017, as well as help run and speak at a further two workshop sessions. With a plethora of experience in the field of active ageing, health and social care, Carina is sure to bring some interesting discussion points and knowledge to the AAL Forum. Carina’s CV includes being Vice President of the EU Covenant on Demographic Change, project manager of GrowMeUp (Horizon 2020 project), main coordinator of the group “Age-friendly building, cities and environments” of the European Innovation Partnership on Active and Healthy Ageing, and with years of experience working as technical director in...Read More