thatthisunderstandinghadbeenfactoredintothe con-
ceptualisationandtheday-to-dayfunctioningof the
scheme.
In practicalterms,the schemes in the projectinclude
longevitytraining—athleticsandgymnasticsunderthe
supervision of doctorsin special clinics—and“SilverUni-
versity”,a freeeducationalprogrammefor elderlypeople,
enablingthemto startnewcareers. Theseare normally
conducted in speciallyset up “longevitycentres”.
Thereis alsoa regularoutinginitiativetermedthe
“Kindbus”,whichgiveselderly Muscovitesa freetour
aroundMoscow.Someof the offbeatprogrammeslisted
undertheprojectinclude Scandinavianwalking,learn-
ing English, drawing,singing, dancingandhoning acting
skills. According to officialstatistics, morethan13,0 00
peopleare engagedsimultaneously in three or moretypes
of classesof theproject. Theproject is mostpopular
amongparticipants aged55-75years.Themajorityof the
participants are women, whoaccountfor 87.1per centof
the beneficiaries.
SvetlanaPetrova, DeputyMinister of Labour and
Social Protection of theRussianFederation,saidthat
therewasa specialfederalprojectcalled“TheOlder
Generation” thatreplicatessomesegments of theMo-
scowLongevityProject in otherpartsof Russia.
“Theprojectis aimedat improving the quality of life
of olderpeople.Firstof all it is about health,social
assistanceandleisureactivities,” shesaid.
Anotherstand-aloneprogramme thatsupplements
theLongevityProjectis theestablishment of “Healthy
Moscow”pavilionsthatare functional across 40 parksin
Moscow,wherevisitorsof all agescangetfreebasic
medicalcheck-ups, whichincludeelectrocardiogramsdiversity andresilience,andlivingstandards.Thefour
pillarsare sustainableandequitablesocio-economic de-
velopment,environmentalconservation, preservation
andpromotionof culture,andgoodgovernance.
DorjiPenjore, whoheadsthe Centrefor Bhutanand
GrossNational Happiness Studies, hasbeeninteracting
withhis Russiancounterpartsin governmentfor many
yearson theconcept. He wasa participant at the 2019
Forumtoo,onceagainreiterating the conceptspromoted
by his country.
LONGEVITY PROJECT
TheMoscowLongevityProject, launchedin March 2018
undertheauspicesof theoffice of theMoscowMayor,
SergeySobyanin,wasoneof thekeyprojectsthatwas
foregrounded. “Forthe mind,for the soulandfor health”
is the slogan of the project, which is totally freeof costfor
the beneficiaries. It caters essentially to women over 55
andmenover60 andhasspecific schemesto enhance
theiroverallphysical well-being throughfocussedmed-
icalcare,fitnessandleisureactivitiesapartfromeleva-
tionof intellectual andcreativeskillscovering areassuch
as informationtechnologyandartsandcrafts.
Everycitizenof Moscow in the specified agegroup is
eligiblefor the project.TheacademicAndreyKurpatov,a
specialistin neuroscienceandhumanbehaviour,who
wasinvolved in the developmentof the longevityproject,
said:“Thehuman racehasalready learnedhowto deal
withtheproblemsof bodyageing,butwe arenotyet
technologicallyprepared to prevent brainageing,be-
causescienceknows obscenely littleaboutthehuman
brain.”
Themanagers of the variousunitsof the project said
KSENIAVLADIMIROVA,in chargeof "My Social Centre", withMaximLeukhin,associatecoordinator.