Marking the mid-term point of the project, the IN-4-AHA partners came together for the first time in real life on 14 and 15 December for a strategy meeting to stake stock of where we are now and where we want to go next year. Based on experiences so far, as well as feedback from the European Commission’s expert review, the different work packages presented the state of their work and collected input from the rest of the partners in order to refine their deliverables and increase the impact of the project in 2022 and beyond. Special attention was paid to the innovation scale-up model and accompanying implementation roadmap, as well as how to better engage with the Active and Healthy Ageing community and ensure sustainability of the project’s achievements in the long run.

Given that the IN-4-AHA project started during the COVID-19 pandemic, the mid-term meeting offered a welcome opportunity to meet each other in person and discuss the project amongst each other without interference of poor internet connected or other technical difficulties. To accommodate those who were not able to travel to Porto, the meeting was set up in hybrid form allowing online participation as well.

For this occasion, the members of the Advisory Board were also invited to take part and give their feedback on the functioning of the project and the development of deliverables thus far.

Advisory Board member Ms. Tanja Skornšek Pleš said: “I am very glad for the opportunity to be here with you and to listen to everything you are discussing. Something I recognized, also because it is important in my own work, is the focus on the needs of users. I think it is always necessary to make a good analysis of user needs when trying to develop a new tool or solution.”