SEAS 2 Grow will tackle the 2 Seas area challenge of ageing populations which leads to pressure on social & medical services and housing affordability while older adults (over 60) want to stay longer at home, even if they face new dependency. There is a need to raise awareness & co-create a Silver Economy (SE) Ecosystem with stakeholders in order to encourage & enable them to propose innovations to solve this issue. Currently, companies do not enter the European SE market not only because they are not aware of these opportunities but also because they face regulatory and market barriers.

Overall objective

The objective is to set-up a proactive SE ecosystem accelerating the delivery of technological & social innovations for the 2 Seas SE market, by providing new tools, methods & services for companies to better enter this market & develop tailored SE solutions, especially for independent living at home. SEAS 2 Grow will also create synergies with local authorities to implement common strategies in SE sector & develop new financial models. By reaching this objective, senior citizens & their families will benefit from innovations more suitable for them that will improve their life conditions.

Main outputs

• A common market referential on the Silver Economy including a Strategic Guide, novel finance models & a Strategic Action Plan
• A Cross-border Accelerator performing 4-step testing of SE solutions, each step performed in some 2 Seas regions following partners’ expertise & available facilities: exploration sessions, experts and demo-houses lab in realistic user environment, living lab at seniors’ homes & business lab (market access)
  These outputs will benefit stakeholders of the 2 Seas area belonging to the 4 sectors of the quadruple helix model, especially companies & older adults

Cross border approach

SMEs across the 2 Seas area do not all benefit from the same level of support to enter the SE because the regions are not equipped with same facilities & services. To ensure homogenous access to this market, a cross-border approach is needed because partners’ complementary skills are necessary to structure the SE market in an efficient & complete way. Moreover, SMEs also need to have access to a wider market since it will offer them bigger opportunities, enabling them to develop & implement innovations in the entire 2 Seas area, available for all seniors of this area.