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Background: As the global demographic shifts towards an ageing population, the significance of the built environment in facilitating ageing in place gains prominence. This study addresses the critical question of how a built environment can support older adults' independence and enhance their quality of life. Method: Utilising a systematic review of review papers, this research scrutinises existing literature to uncover the influence of urban planning, physical accessibility, and residential design on the older people's physical and mental well-being. More specially, the study methodically examines existing review articles that span various aspects of the built environment related to ageing in place. Results: The analysis reveals that specific elements of the built environment, notably rational urban planning and accessible urban spaces, as well as adaptable housing designs, significantly impact ageing individuals' health, social engagement, and overall satisfaction with life. It also identifies contradictions in the effects of environmental features on cognitive health and well-being, underscoring areas that warrant further exploration. Conclusions: The study concludes that thoughtful urban and housing designs are pivotal in creating age-friendly environments that support ageing in place. It emphasises the need for future research and policy development aimed at enhancing the living conditions of older adults within their communities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This is an interpretive-descriptive analysis of responses to 41 open ended questionnaires returned by academics working beyond normal retirement age. The sample consisted mainly of academics from the United Kingdom, Australia, and New Zealand. The research addressed the question of what motivates some academics to continue working beyond the "usual" retirement age. The main motivation for continuing was strong interest and commitment, particularly to research and writing. Some also gave social, financial, and other reasons for continuing. Those not in full time employment described barriers, including finance and facilities and the support that they needed to maintain their activities. In most countries institutional and government policies made it possible for them to stay involved academically even if it meant making a personal effort. Most of them would have liked better support or recognition from their universities. The results suggest that universities should more actively support older academics in continuing activity.

This exploratory pilot study investigates the extent to which participating in a community cultural development (CCD) initiative builds social capital among children. An independent youth arts organisation implemented two cultural activities, developing a compact disc of original music and designing mosaic artworks for a library courtyard, in two schools located in a socio-economically disadvantaged area of South-East Queensland, Australia. After participation in the project, 39 primary school children aged 9 to 13 years completed a generic "Social Capital in Children Questionnaire" designed specifically for evaluating arts projects. Findings support the role of CCD within schools for enhancing social capital in young people, identifying a range of positive impacts regarding self-concept, reciprocity, feelings of obligation, extended networks and trust. The results suggest that program components, such as facilitating 'friendship' connections between children and designing activities that incorporate the sharing of materials, equipment and tools to facilitate reciprocity, should be an important focus for developing arts programs within a social capital framework. (Contains 3 tables.)

In this article, the discussion of loss and its relationship to learning is based on the analysis of interview data from 39 older adults in Hong Kong and 40 in Australia. The focus of the research was on ageing and learning. The phenomenon of life changes, specifically losses, and their relationship to learning was frequently mentioned, and this theme is described here. Three different kinds of loss were identified in the data as motivators for organized or nonorganized learning or for negatively affecting learning. These included loss of aspects of health, of job, or of partner. The results are potentially useful to policy makers and learning providers in encouraging older adults to engage in learning as one way of coping with loss.

This article is an overview and summary of the findings from a General Research Fund project funded (2012-2014) by the Research Grants Council of the University Grants Committee of Hong Kong to investigate cross cultural understanding of ageing and learning by seniors in Hong Kong and Australia. Results have been published separately in Boulton-Lewis, & Buys (2015), Boulton-Lewis, Aird, & Buys (2016), Boulton-Lewis, Tam, Buys, & Chui (2016), Tam (2016), Tam & Chui (2016) and Tam, Aird, Boulton-Lewis & Buys (2016). These articles have dealt separately and variously with either a qualitative or quantitative analysis of learning choices in Australia, structural barriers to learning in Australia, a comparison of views of and ageing and learning in both cultures, Chinese views of later life learning, the meaning of ageing and learning to Chinese elders and an analysis and comparison of results in both places. The focus of this article is a summative discussion based mainly on the quantitative and qualitative analyses of the main themes of ageing and learning. It intends to provide an overview of the findings in some of the publications above. Other details can be found in the publications listed.

The Sri Lankan apparel industry is currently in transition from apparel assembly to manufacturing original designs as a value addition. Design teams work closely with Western brands, buyers and designers to offer advanced creative and technical design services. The purpose of this article is to investigate how Sri Lankan designers acquire personal, high-value fashion knowledge and design skills in this crucial time of industry transition. The study adopts a qualitative approach using semi-structured interviews conducted with 28 fashion design and product development professionals in the industry. Based on an inductive thematic analysis, the study finds that Sri Lankan designers' acquisition of high-value fashion knowledge and skills comes primarily through their self-directed learning. This study proposes the Designers' Self-Directed Learning Cycle to illustrate how designers' learning happens and is applied in their professional practice. The findings are significant in understanding the designers' practice in the export-oriented apparel value chain. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article reports on the findings of qualitative, semistructured interviews conducted with 40 older Australian participants and 39 participants in Hong Kong who either did or did not engage in organized learning in the last 6 months. Phenomenology was used to guide the interviews and analysis to explore the experiences and perspectives of these older people. The meaning older people attribute to aging and learning and their possible relationship in their lives in both societies is described and compared.

This paper reports on the findings of qualitative, semistructured interviews conducted with 40 older Australian participants who either did or did not engage in organized learning. Phenomenology was used to guide the interviews and analysis to explore the lived learning experiences and perspectives of these older people. Their experiences of learning can be described in two main categories of pleasure and leisure or purpose and relevance. Almost all the activities described in these categories have the potential to support health and wellbeing. Organizers of activities should take these reasons into account.

This article documents the rationale and experience of a pilot Australian sustainability education programme, "Living Smart Homes" (LSH) based on a community-based social marketing model. Inspired by the Australian "Land for Wildlife" scheme, LSH is designed to engage homeowners with sustainable practices through face-to-face workshops, an interactive website with action-learning modules and a recognition scheme, a sign displayed in front of participants' homes--to which additions were made as they completed modules on energy, water, waste and transport. Participants were asked to change household behaviours and to discuss the changes and the barriers to participation in the programme and to making the behavioural changes. More than 120 people participated in the programme. This article documents feedback from two surveys and four focus groups. Participants enjoyed and learnt from LSH, praising the household sign as a tangible symbol of their commitment to sustainability and a talking point with visitors. Their evaluation of the LSH programme, website and workshops, as well as their identification of barriers and recommendations for improvement and expansion of the programme, are discussed. (Contains 2 figures.)

In January 2007, South-East Queensland became the first region in Australia to formally decide to introduce recycled water into the drinking supplies. Internationally, although water recycling occurs in the United States, United Kingdom, Singapore and Belgium, surprisingly little is known about public perceptions. This article explores gender differences in knowledge and acceptance of water recycling as a solution to the water crisis in Australia. A postal survey of Pine Rivers Shire residents showed that both men and women attempted to use water responsibly and had deliberately made changes to reduce their household's water consumption in the past year. All believed that the general community did not have adequate knowledge to vote on water recycling and were supportive of the government's decision to implement it without a referendum. Women were more dubious about the trustworthiness and science of the technology, while men were more knowledgeable and followed the debate more closely. Men were more supportive of building dams and increasing the price of water, whereas women prioritised desalination and greywater. By highlighting the similarities and differences between men and women on the water crisis and water recycling in South-East Queensland, this research will inform the development of risk communication, education and engagement strategies. (Contains 4 tables.)

Learning is an important aspect of active ageing, yet older people are not often included in discussions of the issue. Older people vary in their need, desire, and ability to learn, and this is evident in the context of technology. The focus of the data analysis for this paper was on determining the place of learning and technology in active ageing. The paper describes results from 2,645 respondents aged from 50 to 74+ years, in Australia, to a 178-item variable postal survey. The survey measured aspects of learning; work; social, spiritual and emotional status; health; vision; home; life events; and demographics. There was also an open-ended question about being actively engaged in life. Ordinal regression analysis showed that interest in learning, keeping up to date, valuing communication, being younger, and being male are predictors of learning about technology. The results are at variance with an earlier analysis of our data which showed that women are generally more interested in learning. The open statements contained mentions of learning about technology for the purposes of communication, learning, family links, keeping up to date, enjoyment, staying mentally alert, and just using the computer. These results are discussed in terms of the subtle but important differences between needing and wanting to learn about technology and the opportunities for such learning by older people. A list of sample websites for seniors is appended. (Contains 3 tables and 1 footnote.)

Learning is an important aspect of aging productively. This paper describes results from 2645 respondents (aged from 50 to 74+ years) to a 165-variable postal survey in Australia. The focus is on learning and its relation to work; social, spiritual, and emotional status; health; vision; home; life events; and demographic details. Clustering analysis showed that learning and health were most important. The relationship between variables was then investigated using the Gamma test by age, and factor and regression analyses. Of the respondents, 6% discussed learning in the open statement on the questionnaire. Implications are drawn from the results for learning. (Contains 1 table.)