Taking care of ageing futures: reflections on a care-full, response-able praxis of co-design with older adults

Journal article

This article contributes to the Responsible Research and Innovation (RRI) literature by drawing on feminist posthuman care approaches to discuss experiences of researching and co-designing with older minoritised adults. It responds to calls in RRI for a focus on new conceptualisations of ‘care’ and ‘response-ability’ for the future of the field. We focus on the praxis of care-full and response-able design adopted on the Connecting Through Culture As We Age project. In so doing we respond to the need for empirical accounts of how these RRI concepts take shape in grounded practices of research and innovation. We highlight a set of practices that aim to embed care and response-ability in digital design processes involving older adults, researchers and designers, to deeply consider our roles in ‘taking care of the future’ in RRI. In the context of ageing populations and increasing inequalities we hope these practices may be useful to others.

Authors: Willatt, A; Manchester, H; Foster, T; Gray, SI; Hunter, W

• Publication status: Published
• Peer review status: Peer reviewed
• Publisher: Taylor and Francis Group
• Journal: Journal of Responsible Innovation
• Volume: 13
• Issue: 1
• Article number: 2601384
• Publication date: 2026-12-31
• Acceptance date: 2025-12-04
• DOI: 10.1080/23299460.2025.2601384
• EISSN: 2329-9037
• ISSN: 2329-9460
• Language: English
• Keywords: praxis; Co-design; ageing; care