A service innovation salon themed "Voice of Senior, Future of Agings," hosted by Tsinghua (Qingdao) Academy of Arts and Science Innovation Research (TASA), was successfully held on June 11, 2025. This salon, as one of the activities of the [TASA Habitat Forum] series, was chaired by CHEN Xin, Senior Director of the Future Habitat Culture and Industry Research Center of TASA. Focusing on the development of age-friendly industries, the event gathered university scholars, enterprise representatives, and association experts to delve into core issues including the integration of elderly care service resources and the innovation of home-based elderly care models. These participants actively explored innovative paths and practical directions for the high-quality development of elderly care services, jointly envisioning a strategic blueprint for elderly care in the new era.

WANG Jiansong, Professor and Ph.D. Supervisor at the Academy of Arts & Design, Tsinghua University (AADTHU), and Executive Vice President of TASA, emphasized in his keynote speech that TASA would endeavor to establish a collaborative platform for future elderly care development by leveraging policies, theories, and resources, and collaborating with enterprises, universities, associations, and other stakeholders. In addressing current challenges in home-based elderly care such as caregiver isolation and insufficient community coordination, he proposed to establish a full-chain ecosystem of supply-demand relationships and foster collaboration among companies in the industry, colleges/universities, research institutes, governmental agencies, and financial institutions. The initiative aims to achieve the comprehensive upgrading from technological innovation to social services and substantially improve seniors' quality of life.

A keynote speech by Mr. WANG Jiansong

WANG Guosheng, Associate Professor and Ph.D. Supervisor at AADTHU, and Director of Future Service Design Innovation Experimental Center of TASA, put forward a closed-loop system integrating needs assessment, service design, and standard development, based on a national key research project of the Ministry of Science and Technology—Ergonomics-Based Technical Requirements and Standard Research for Age-friendly Community Service Design. Targeting the "9073" elderly care framework (i.e., about 90% of older adults rely on home care, about 7% on community care, and about 3% on institutional care), he highlighted the necessity for interdisciplinary collaboration mechanisms to tackle the issue of isolated services and deliver a comprehensive solution for community transformation from singular facility updates to "intelligent linkage + institutional support."

Insights sharing by Associate Professor WANG Guosheng

WU Kefu, Honorary President of Zhejiang Chamber of Commerce in Qingdao and President of Qingdao Urban-Rural Integrated Development Promotion Association, proposed a "government-enterprise-bank-university" integration model to address core challenges in the elderly care industry. He emphasized the need for the elderly care industry to move beyond traditional real estate paradigms and suggested leveraging chamber platforms to gather enterprises across insurance, healthcare, and cultural tourism sectors to form an "elderly care industry alliance." A light-heavy asset separation model was also proposed to invigorate market vitality. Additionally, Mr. WU stressed the importance of adhering to rural homestead policies while developing cultural IP-empowered rural elderly care projects during rural revitalization, thereby encouraging "modular investment attraction" and promoting the development of specialized industrial clusters.

Project introduction by Mr. WU Kefu

WANG Shilei, Director of the Decoration and Environmental Design Department at the Design Institute of China Construction Eighth Engineering Division Development and Construction Co., Ltd., demonstrated the empowerment benchmark model of China Construction Eighth Engineering Division (CCEED) in elderly care infrastructure through the Ningbo Fenghua "Zen Care Complex" project case. In terms of age-friendly technologies, the project has developed a "full-chain barrier-free access + smart monitoring and care" system, encompassing innovative designs such as public living rooms, dual wheelchair passages, therapeutic landscape modules, and AI behavior monitoring, aiming to comprehensively enhance age-friendly functionality and service quality.

Design solution presentation by WANG Shilei, an alumnus of Tsinghua University

WANG Jiantao, Dean of the Design Institute of China Construction Eighth Engineering Division Development and Construction Co., Ltd., shared CCEED's practical achievements and strategic planning in health and wellness industry development. Moving forward, CCEED would focus on urban-rural health and wellness development, establishing sustainable project ecosystems through full-chain coordination of "design-construction-operation & maintenance" mechanisms. CCEED would comprehensively apply critical technologies including barrier-free systems and smart health and wellness systems in elderly-friendly design, fully integrating the concepts and standards of age-friendliness throughout the project lifecycles. Besides, it would leverage its EPC management strengths to offer replicable and scalable new models for project design and development in the industry.

Insights sharing by Mr. WANG Jiantao from CCEED

During the open discussion, representatives from companies in the industry, colleges/ universities, and research institutes engaged in in-depth exchanges on breakthrough paths for age-friendly industries. Mr. WANG Jiansong reiterated TASA's commitment to building an age-friendly "industry-university-research integration platform," aggregating expertise across design science, medical science, and intelligent technology to drive knowledge sharing and generate innovative age-friendly solutions. Associate Professor WANG Guosheng emphasized the need to establish a closed-loop standard system through the coordination between policymakers, enterprises and users. He proposed to pilot the "needs assessment, service design, and standard certification" process in Qingdao to bridge the gap between standardization and practice. Mr. WU Kefu came up with an "insurance + cultural tourism" dual-drive strategy to attract private capital, and suggested establishing a sustainable "heavy asset investment + light service operation" ecosystem. Mr. WANG Jiantao discussed how CCEED's smart construction site technologies, like AI monitoring systems, could be adapted for elderly care communities, proposing quality enhancement of elderly care services through technological empowerment.

Roundtable dialogue

Since its inception, the [TASA Habitat Forum] has consistently focused on establishing a new paradigm for human habitat development that integrates "theoretical breakthroughs, technological innovation, industrial development, and civilizational symbiosis." As its founding institution, the TASA Habitat Culture and Industry Development Alliance will keep using the Habitat Forum as a key strategic platform to host themed salons and integrate cutting-edge theories, innovative technologies, policies, and financial resources, thereby effectively contributing to the advancement of future human habitat culture and industry development.