The first of eight forums to spark conversations about ageing well will focus on the impact of climate change on older people.
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Age-Friendly North East Victoria executive officer Kathleen Brasher wants to "capture the imagination" of community and industry leaders in the sessions.
"It really matters now that we focus on what sort of community we need to ensure that everybody can age to the best of their ability," she said.
"In the last 10 years, there's been over 300 people's deaths reported to coroners due to heatwave.
"About 70 per cent of those deaths were in people aged over 65, and almost all of them were in buildings.
"How we design future housing, but also how we can help people make adaptions to existing housing stock ... can try to limit."
Age-Friendly North East Victoria began with Victorian government funding and is now funded through the Upper Hume Primary Care Partnership.
Senior officer James Dunne said eight forums would be taking place in coming months, to increase social participation.
"Anyone can come along - we'd love to have a lot of community members there and share their experiences," he said.
"In other forums, we'll be looking at how different individuals and community groups have adapted to COVID.
"One will be about older women and housing; older women are one of the fastest growing groups experiencing homelessness."
Dr Brasher, a social gerontologist, said all aspects of society were relevant in applying the World Health Organisation's Age Friendly Cities and Communities approach.
"It's about looking at the way we design and use our transport systems and housing, the way communities comes together and the way businesses encourage older people," she said.
"We want planners to think about how we can design open spaces to encourage older people.
"Indigo Shire is now part of the global network for age-friendly cities and communities and they've made it a really big part of their strategic plan, which has been really pleasing.
"We know that Wodonga Council are looking at the framework and starting to think about how that can inform their work, and similarly, Towong Shire have an interest.
"Interest in it is growing - there are some countries in the world that are doing a tremendous amount of work and are really seeing a difference already in improving the general health and well-being of older people, but also in improving their economies."
