About Shaping Connections
Research shaped with older adults for a more inclusive future
Shaping Connections is a collaborative research initiative exploring how technology, services and communities can better support older adults to stay connected, participate and live well.
Bringing together researchers, older adults, community organisations, government and industry, we investigate real-world experiences and turn research into evidence, tools and practical approaches that can help create more inclusive services, systems and communities.
Our purpose
Technology is increasingly embedded in how we communicate, learn, access services and participate in everyday life, but people's experiences of technology are not the same. Age alone tells us very little about someone's skills, confidence, needs or aspirations. Our research seeks to better understand this diversity and the factors that can support or limit participation in later life.
From digital inclusion and social connection to emerging technologies, healthy ageing and civic participation, we generate evidence that can help organisations make better decisions and design more inclusive experiences.
Our approach
We research with people, not just about them
Older adults bring diverse experiences, knowledge and perspectives to the questions we investigate. Our approach recognises that expertise and creates opportunities for people to contribute throughout the research process.
We use participatory research, co-design and other collaborative methods to understand lived experience, identify what matters to communities and develop responses grounded in real needs and circumstances.
That can mean working alongside older adults to investigate their experiences, involving communities in developing solutions, or bringing research participants together with organisations and decision-makers who can act on what is learned.
Our research starts with the experiences and priorities of older adults and communities.
We work alongside people to understand the issues that matter to them and evelop research that can make a partcial difference.
Prof Bernardo Figueiredo
Shaping Connections Co-founder & Director
From research to impact
Our work is designed to move beyond understanding a problem. We look for ways research can contribute to meaningful change.
IMPACT
We work with organisations, communities and decision-makers to help inform services, policy, practice and more inclusive experiences.
RESEARCH
We generate evidence about ageing, technology, participation and social connection.
CO-DESIGN
We work with older adults and communities to understand lived experience and develop responses together.
TRANSLATE
We turn research into practical resources, tools, recommendations and insights that others can use.
Our story
Shaping Connections began in 2018 as a collaboration between researchers at RMIT University and U3A Network Victoria, with a shared interest in understanding how technology could support older adults to stay connected and participate in their communities.
Early research challenged simplistic assumptions about older people and technology. It showed that digital participation was not just about learning technical skills. People's relationships, confidence, perceptions of risk, access to support and reasons for using technology all mattered.
Since then, Shaping Connections has grown into a broader research program examining the changing experiences of ageing, technology and participation. Our work continues to evolve as new technologies, community needs and research questions emerge.
Our people
Shaping Connections brings together researchers with expertise spanning consumer research, digital inclusion, healthy ageing, emerging technology, co-design, social marketing and related fields.
Our researchers work with community, government and industry partners to bring different perspectives to complex questions and help translate research into practical outcomes.
Collaboration makes better research
Partnerships have been part of Shaping Connections from the beginning. We collaborate with older adults, community organisations, government, researchers and industry to investigate real challenges, bring different perspectives together and increase the potential for research to make a difference.
Whether you are interested in collaborating on research, applying our methods, working with older adults through co-design, or translating evidence into practice, we'd like to hear from you.