Positive Ageing, Intergenerational Solidarity, and the Role of Higher Education

Following her recent presentation to the retired community of York University, Canada, Dr Christine O'Kelly, Director of DCU’s Age-Friendly University Programme, offered this personal reflection on the experience:

Last Friday, I had the privilege of speaking with the retired community of York University, Canada, and the experience has stayed with me in ways I’m still processing.

What struck me most was the atmosphere of curiosity, generosity, and deep humanity in the room. These were people who have spent decades shaping scholarship, mentoring students, and contributing to civic life — and yet their appetite for connection, learning, and purpose remains as strong as ever. It was a reminder of something I hold central to the Age-Friendly University movement: ageing is not a closing chapter, but an expanding one.

My presentation explored ideas that are close to my heart — positive ageing as a lifelong practice, learning as a source of belonging, and intergenerational solidarity as a foundation for a fairer future. We discussed shared challenges across generations — climate, work, care, inequality — and how universities can serve as civic anchors by creating spaces where wisdom and imagination meet.

But the conversation did something more. It reaffirmed what I see every day in DCU’s Age-Friendly University Programme: when older adults engage in learning, research, creativity, and community, they bring not only their experience but also their openness and hope. That combination is powerful.

I left York University feeling inspired and humbled — reminded that the longevity dividend is not an abstract concept but a lived reality embodied by people who continue to learn, contribute, and lead well into later life.

To everyone at York University who welcomed me so warmly: thank you. You reinforced why this work matters, and why the future of higher education must be inclusive of people of all ages.