newbb电子平台's 沃伊诺维奇领导与公共服务学院 Joins Forces with Ohio State University's College of Social Work to Create the 'Grey Green Alliance'

newbb电子平台沃伊诺维奇领导与公共服务学院, working in collaboration with The Ohio State University’s College of Social Work, has created the Grey Green Alliance to research and develop sustainability and climate resilience concepts for older adults. 

灰绿联盟的想法, 或GGA, 来到兄弟姐妹之间, Geoff Dabelko和Holly Dabelko- Schoeny, 在家庭餐桌上. Geoff Dabelko的讨论, 沃伊诺维奇学院的教授兼副院长, 和妹妹Holly Dabelko-Schoeny, an associate professor at the The Ohio State College of Social Work and director of research for the Age-Friendly Innovation Center in Columbus, laid the groundwork for the collaboration between the siblings and their respective universities.

“几十年, we thought we could never find a way to work together until we were literally kind of sitting around the Thanksgiving dinner table,Geoff Dabelko说. “突然间，我们看到了潜在的协同效应.”

The potential partnership grew out of an age-friendly communities process set up by the World Health Organization, 或者谁, 由美国退休人员协会在全国范围内组织. The 14-year-old method allows communities to enter a five-year process to create communities that are livable for people of all ages. 

Columbus officially joined the international network and in 2016, the five-year cycle began. 凯蒂白, director of the Age Friendly Innovation Center at Ohio State's College of Social Work and director of Age Friendly Columbus and Franklin County, described the initiative as a commitment from communities to understand areas of need and opportunity for improving communities for older adults and people with disabilities. 

“I think the Grey Green Alliance is a really good example of the evolution of Age Friendly work and how you get into it,怀特说. “You start to see success and as you start to understand your assessment results and get into your strategic planning work, 你开始看到其他可以而且应该参与的领域.”

When newbb电子平台’s Dabelko brought this work to the 沃伊诺维奇学校, 学校里的研究生对这个话题特别感兴趣. Melissa Damico，四年级学生 沃伊诺维奇 undergraduate research scholar at 沃伊诺维奇学校 and newbb电子平台's Honors Tutorial College environmental studies student, 在newbb电子平台和雅典大学都参与了GGA. 

她大一毕业后的那个夏天, Damico was selected for an Honors Tutorial College Apprenticeship that allowed her to conduct research in Columbus and Franklin County, 一个正在经历五年进程的市和县, 观察他们的应急准备情况, 特别是在气候变化方面.

She was embedded at the Age-Friendly Columbus and Franklin County municipal office in a City of Columbus recreation center where she could learn directly from the older adults, 或者“经验专家”,以及在社区工作的教职员工. 当她从哥伦布回来时，达米科用她的研究帮助带来了 把对老年人友好的进程带到雅典. 

What Dabelko noticed during this time in the WHO’s age-friendly method was that sustainability and climate resilience were not considered among its eight focus areas. 

他的妹妹, Dabelko-Schoeny, shared with him how The Ohio State’s College of Social Work was going through the age-friendly process in Columbus and Franklin County, 专注于交通运输, 基础设施和住房. “但是，她没有看到我如何适应气候问题，”Dabelko说. ”我说, 如果减缓气候变化是为了减少排放, 这是在交通运输领域, 住房部门和基础设施.’”

Using the research previously completed in Columbus and the age-friendly process there, Dabelko在2019年提出了灰绿联盟的想法. 第二年秋天, newbb电子平台 invited Dabelko-Schoeny and White from the Columbus project to talk with some of the 雅典 community members. 

“They were really enthusiastic about making 雅典 an age-friendly community as well,达米科说。, 沃伊诺维奇学者. “Specifically 雅典’ older adults expressed concern about the climate dimension of my research, 所以我们增加了一个很好的领域，叫做可持续性和气候适应能力.”

The Age-Friendly 雅典 County Initiative is still in the early stages of development within the five-year development process. 丽贝卡·米勒, the senior director of community relations for newbb电子平台’s College of Health Sciences and Professions as well as a leader in the Age-Friendly 雅典 County Initiative, said the first portion of the work from this past summer was to send out a community survey across the county.

“The first two years [of the process] are a community assessment,” Miller said. “We're at this point where we're just kind of awaiting results for our next steps.”

丽贝卡·米勒, 还有山姆·克罗尔, 雅典市议会成员, emphasized the importance of getting members of the 雅典 community to fill out the comprehensive survey so they can obtain the most accurate survey results possible. The results will be used to enter the next stages of the age-friendly process. 

Community members are encouraged to share their priorities with the Age-Friendly 雅典 County Initiative leadership and all volunteers are welcome on any of the domain committees.

通过老年友好雅典县倡议和其他进程, Dabelko and Damico hope to continue their research into sustainability and climate resilience on the local, 国内和国际层面. 

"我很感激. Dabelko的研究小组. There have been a number of terrific students throughout the years he's been at newbb电子平台 who have come out of that group looking at sustainability and certainly applied resilience,克劳说. “I look forward to hearing more about the Grey Green Alliance and [Damico] compiling some of her research conclusions about how that project can continue to go forward.”