Open Ageing Launch of DesignAge HK Club @Hong Kong Senior Expos (400 members) DesignAge HK Club (老嘢設計會) is attributed to the action research programme DesignAge led by Professor Roger Coleman in the 1990s at the Royal College of Art, London. The original DesignAge was inspired by English historian Peter Laslett who stated that ageing is ‘a unique experience for each individual... [to] live in the presence of all your future selves.’ His words were used to promote a life-course approach to address ageing issues. Later, this concept was extended and developed into the DesignAge Programme at the Royal College of Art, the first design movement in the realm of ageing which centred around the concept of ‘Design for Our Future Selves’. One of its major developments was the collaboration with the University of the Third Age (U3A), an advocate that encouraged retired and semi-retired people to gather and learn with each other. Through the programme, many active senior citizens started to engage MA design students at the Royal College of Art. For our Hong Kong version, we would like to engage with people, irrespective of their age, to think and learn about design for the ageing population in creative and ingenious way. We aim to explore a “designerly” way and a solution-focused approach to deal with Hong Kong’s ageing population. This is why we create different design activities that allow citizens, especially the older generation, to participate in the practice of design. Our intention is to stimulate and revitalize their imaginative and observatory capacities in their everyday life and release their potential ingenuity, recruiting them as our creative partners.

“Owls are classically seen in many cultures to represent wisdom, knowledge, age, status and intelligence. They are also often mythically represented as the guides to help us uncover our hidden potential and abilities. Rabbits on the other hand are primarily associated with abundance, creativity, playfulness and new beginnings – the symbolic circle of life.”