An international
association is holding a pre-congress leadership summit 1,200 miles away from
the main event following a joint bid from Australia and New Zealand.
Sydney will host the 24th International
Association of Gerontology and Geriatrics (IAGG) World Congress of Gerontology
and Geriatrics from July 28- August 3rd, 2029.
The quadrennial event, taking place at
ICC Sydney and expected to attract 5,000 delegates, will be preceded by a
leadership summit, taking place in Queenstown, New Zealand.
More
than 300 delegates are expected at the summit, which is taking place at the
Millennium Hotel in Queenstown, before heading to the congress in Australia.
The
congress - the largest worldwide conference on
ageing - will bring experts together to help improve the experience of ageing
for older people across the world.
Delegates include representatives
from medicine, nursing, allied health, aged care, policy and practice fields,
and other disciplines brought together to address the latest approaches to
improving the experience of ageing for ageing and older people.
A six-year bidding effort by the
Australian Association of Gerontology (AAG), the New Zealand Association of
Gerontology (NZAG) and the Australian & New Zealand Society for Geriatric
Medicine (ANZSGM) ensured the win, which was decided by vote by more than 80
IAGG member countries at the 2022 IAGG Council and General Assembly. The bid
was supported by the business events teams at BESydney and Tourism New Zealand.
Co-bid leaders Professor Julie Byles,
Global Innovation chair in Responsive Transitions in Health and Ageing,
Newcastle University, and Professor Keith Hill, director of the Rehabilitation,
Ageing and Independent Living (RAIL) research centre, Monash University, said
in a statement: “This bid win is a wonderful outcome for our gerontological and
geriatrician communities across Australia and New Zealand. We are
honoured to have been selected by our global colleagues to lead this critical
conversation about ageing together and ageing well. Importantly, the IAGG World
Congress in Sydney in 2029 represents an opportunity for students and early
career participants to come together and to form lasting global relationships
that will help shape their professional activities into the future.”
Professor Debra Waters, University of Otago, pre-congress bid
Leadership Summit lead and VP of the New Zealand Association of Gerontology, said:
“The leadership summit will honour Indigenous leadership in
ageing, highlighting the value of holistic, sustainable, and culturally
relevant approaches used by First Nations and Indigenous Peoples. We will
welcome leaders, established and emerging, from across the globe, to join a
conversation about ageing well.”
IAGG World Congress was last held in
Australia, in Adelaide, in 1997 and this will be the first time that Sydney has
hosted the congress.
Written By
James Lancaster
AMI editor James
Lancaster is a familiar face in the meetings industry and international
association community. Since joining AMI in 2010, he has gained a reputation
for asking difficult questions and getting lost in convention centres. Proofer, podcaster, and panellist - in his spare time, James likes to walk,
read, listen to music, and drink beer.
