On 9 December, Alzheimer Europe hosted a session of its popular online Alzheimer’s Association Academy, dedicated to exploring the topic of our newly launched Dementia in Europe Yearbook 2025, titled “Transport and access to cultural life, recreation, leisure and sport”. The Academy is a series of online capacity-building workshops bringing together representatives of national Alzheimer’s associations with members of the European Working Group of People with Dementia (EWGPWD) and European Dementia Carers Working Group (EDCWG), as well as representatives from pharmaceutical companies, to learn about dementia advocacy, care, policy, research and treatment. The session on 9 December was the seventh and final Academy for 2025 and was moderated by Owen Miller, Policy Officer, Alzheimer Europe, who was also responsible for authoring the Yearbook. He began by welcoming 36 participants from 19 countries across Europe, as well as representatives from two pharmaceutical companies (Johnson & Johnson and Lilly), and then delivered the first presentation of the session, in which he shared some of the findings from the new report.
The Yearbook provides an outline of the situation regarding transport and access to cultural life, recreation leisure and sport, at the European and international level (including the UNCRPD and the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union), comparing this against the situation nationally. It includes national policy and legislation, as well as practice examples, alongside some experiences and testimonies from people with lived experience (people living with dementia, carers). Lastly, it provides a series of recommendations to national and European decision-makers. Owen Miller shared some insights around a number of important topic areas in the report, for which content was gathered through a survey of Alzheimer Europe’s national member associations: National dementia strategies; Disability and ageing policies; Service design, operations and staff competence for transport; Disability and parking cards; Dementia-specific initiatives for culture, recreation, leisure and sport; Civil society and community leadership; and Inequalities, unmet needs and information gaps. The Dementia in Europe Yearbook 2025 can be accessed on the website of Alzheimer Europe at: https://www.alzheimer-europe.org/sites/default/files/2025-12/dementia_in_europe_yearbook_2025_-_final.pdf
Joke Lauwers from Alzheimer Liga Vlaanderen (the Flemish Alzheimer’s Association), spoke next, giving delegates details of “De Goei Wei” - a location in Houthalen-Helchteren, Belgium, that hosts events and a specialised sensory path ("voelpad") designed for people with dementia, in collaboration with the Flemish dementia working group and the Alzheimer Liga Vlaanderen. De Goei Wei, is a creative sensory space aiming to bring together art, nature and care in an accessible and welcoming way for people with dementia. It is a forest walk which includes sensory paths (also suitable for walkers and small wheelchairs), including vibration and sound installations, as well as a forest room with soft music and hand-held instruments. Visits are held in small groups, with people with demetnia caregivers, volunteers and family members invited to join and experience the space together. The focus is on the wellbeing of the persons, allowing them to creat create unique experiences and connections through the use of the space and the resources within.
The third presenter was Fiona Foley from the Health Service Executive Ireland (HSE), who discussed how to ensure the voices of people with dementia are heard by transport operators. Her presentation began with an introduction to the “Dementia – Understand Together” campaign, which is a collaboration between the HSE and several organisations, including our member, The Alzheimer Society of Ireland. She then gave some information about the national dementia strategy in Ireland and shared some national statistics around dementia in the country, before providing participants with a detailed overview of work being done with the National Transport Authority, to ensure people with dementia are taken into consideration when providing transport services, and are a part of the conversation. This included details of an innovative pilot programme called Connecting Ireland, which provides on-demand travel booked through an app. In closing, she shared information on training, resources and guidance documents which can be found at: www.understandtogether.ie
Jim Pearson, Deputy Chief Executive, Alzheimer Scotland, was the fourth and final speaker at the Academy, sharing a presentation on “Building partnerships with cultural institutions to create accessible performances”. He began by discussing why cultural partnerships are important, noting the increase in quality of life these can bring to people with dementia, as well as the reduction in isolation by allowing for more social inclu-sion. He shared examples, including a project which saw the Scottish Chamber Orchestra giving dementia-inclusive con-certs, and the Football Memories Partnership, which allows participants to use memorabilia and photographs from football (and more recently, other sports as well) to stimulate memories among people living with dementia. The scheme also provides memory boxes, multi-sensory engagement, and dementia-friendly museum visits. He also introduced delegates to Alz-heimer Scotland’s outdoor brain health and dementia resource centres, namely the Badaguish Centre, and Lauriston Castle Centre. A huge thank you to all speakers and participants at the Academy of 9 December, for making this such an engaging session and a big thank you, also to the European Union’s Citizen’s, Equalities, Rights and Values (CERV) programme, and our Gold and Silver sponsors, Bristol Myers Squibb, Eisai, Lilly, Novo Nordisk and Roche, without whom our educational and healthcare-related activities, including these capacity-building workshops, would not be possible.
