June 2014

On Monday 2nd June 2014, 45 of the leading thinkers, strategists and practitioners in dementia-friendly communities came together at the Scottish Universities Insight Institute in Glasgow to exchange knowledge and ideas about their work.

Invited participants joined us from across Scotland, the UK, Europe and North America. They were from a range of backgrounds, including academia, policy and practice. Three participants had dementia.

There were two interactive activities on the day:

In the first interactive activity, our participants were asked to discuss what they understood to be the key features of a dementia-friendly community.

Here is what our participants had to say

In the second interactive activity, our participants were asked five key questions about the current evidence and resource base on dementia-friendly communities, gaps in knowledge, and ways to make the process inclusive of everyone.

Here is what our participants had to say

The activities were interspersed with short presentations from the following invited speakers…

Olivia Mastry (Keynote), Executive Lead of Act on Alzheimer’s, a volunteer driven, state-wide collaboration preparing Minnesota for the impacts of Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias.

LISTEN to Olivia’s presentation on SoundCloud

WATCH Olivia’s presentation on YouTube

View video on YouTube


Sabine Henry, President of the Ville Amie Démence / la Ligue Alzheimer ASBL, Belgium.

John Keady, Professor of Older People’s Mental Health Nursing at the University of Manchester and founding Co-editor of Dementia: the international journal of social research and practice.

LISTEN to Sabine and John’s joint presentation on SoundCLoud

WATCH Sabine and John’s joint presentation on YouTube

View video on YouTube


Ann Heylighen, Research Professor, Research[x]Design group at KU Leuven, Belgium.

Lynne Mitchell, Co-founder of WISE (Wellbeing in Sustainable Environments) at the University of Warwick and Co-author, with Libby Burton, of Inclusive Urban Design: Streets for Life.

LISTEN to Ann and Lynne’s joint presentation on SoundCloud

WATCH Ann and Lynne’s joint presentation on YouTube

View video on YouTube


Christopher Phillipson, Professor of Sociology & Social Gerontology at the University of Manchester and former President of the British Society of Gerontology.

LISTEN to Christopher’s presentation on SoundCloud

WATCH Christopher’s presentation on YouTube

View video on YouTube


Catharine Ward Thompson, Professor of Landscape Architecture and Associate Dean (Research) at the University of Edinburgh and Director of the OPENspace research centre.

LISTEN to Catharine’s presentation on SoundCloud

WATCH Catharine’s presentation on YouTube

View video on YouTube

We also heard from the Scottish Dementia Working Group (SDWG), a national campaigning group run by people with dementia and the independent voice of people with dementia within Alzheimer Scotland


LISTEN to Brian’s presentation on SoundCloud

WATCH Brian’s presentation on YouTube

View video on YouTube

The day was facilitated by Richard Ward, Andrew Clark and Máire Cox.