Final evaluation of the Awen Institute

The Awen Institute places older adults at the centre of innovation, supporting co-working between researchers, the creative industries and older people across Wales, with the aim of developing new products, services and environments suitable for an increasingly older population.

The Institute was established in 2018 via funding from the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) through the Welsh Government, and is led by Swansea University in partnership with University of South Wales and University of Wales Trinity Saint David. ERDF funding was used to support the appointment of expert researchers, and to create state-of-the-art research infrastructure at Swansea University, including a ‘daily living facility’, ‘café lab’ and a location-based virtual reality facility. This provides the ideal environment to identify the needs of older adults, and to test prototype products, experiences, environments and services through co-production.

SQW has been appointed to undertake a final evaluation of the ERDF support for the Awen Institute; this will build on our earlier successful inception and mid-term evaluations of the Institute. The final evaluation is seeking to assess the Institute's progress and impact to date on research and innovation, and to identify key learning lessons to inform future delivery.

The Awen Institute is one of several evaluation studies we are currently completing of investment in the research and innovation capacity at Swansea University and other research institutions across Wales. For further information about our work in this area, please contact Joe Duggett.