Germany The region Frankfurt/Rhine-Main is an urban agglomeration and the second biggest European metropolis region in Germany, located in the south of Hessen. With its 2.2 mio. inhabitants it forms a socially diversified region, including a high ratio of mainly younger migrants. Nonetheless, senior citizens are an important issue on the political agenda, since traditional family structures are about to be replaced by characteristics of the demographic change: an increase of single households, grown-up children living in regional distance to their parents and a strong growth in the shares of old and very old people, depending of external services by commercial providers, welfare organisations and voluntary initiatives.

The city of Wetzlar is situated 60 km north of Frankfurt with approx. 53,000 inhabitants, a quarter of which is at an age of 60 years and above. Facing the growing numbers of older persons, local policies focus on the on issues of adequate housing conditions at quarters´ levels, including the development of social-services for older people run by professional or non-profit organisations and volunteers.

By choosing Wetzlar as a starting point for the activities of the i2i-project, examples for different strategies in implementing new and innovative actions for the re-integration of older people into community life will be collected. They form the basis for developing a Regional Action Plan at the level of the Rhine-Main area as of summer 2006. Hessische Staatskanzlei Wiesbaden:
The Hessische Staatskanzlei is the Minister President's office. The promotion of civic engagement is one of the political focuses of the regional government and is performed in close cooperation with 447 Hessian municipalities and counties as well as with welfare organisations. Special awareness is given to the effects of the demographic changes which need actions in due time to minimise the specific risks and disadvantages for old people. Besides the enlargement of professional support structures, the objective is to acknowledge and promote existing capabilities and competences of old persons. ISIS, Institut für Soziale Infrastruktur, Frankfurt am Main:
ISIS is a private social science research, training and consultancy institute, founded in 1991 and based in Frankfurt am Main, Germany. In research ISIS has specialised on issues of population groups threatened or concerned by higher risks of disadvantages, such as older persons, migrants, people with disability or the unemployed. The improvement of their living conditions, equal opportunities and participation in society are a primary topic in work of ISIS, including situation analysis, problem identification as well as the development and testing of solutions to problems.

ISIS is experienced in conceptualising and carrying out projects for regional and national authorities and institutions, and for more than 15 years, it is active throughout Europe. ISIS coordinates partnerships and initiatives aiming at a productive synthesis of the expertise of our project partners from various sectors and functions, such as policy-makers and practitioners, public authorities and NGOs or experts and target group representatives. The bridging of gaps between different sectors in sciences and policies e.g. the social, health and educational realms has also been successfully achieved in a number of ISIS projects.