As a result of the initiative of the government of North Rhine-Westphalia the topic “Silver Economy in Europe” was addressed at a conference which attracted more than 600 participants from all over Europe. As a result of this huge interest and in order to host all participants the conference venue had to be changed at short notice from the Old Waterworks to the large plenary hall of the former German Parliament (Bundestag) in Bonn. The expectations of the organisers were widely exceeded. Minister Birgit Fischer was highly pleased with the huge positive response received in Germany and abroad when she opened the conference on 17th February 2005 together with high-level representatives from the European Commission, the Council of the European Union the Committee of the Regions in Brussels as well as Skilled Crafts and Industry and the European Older People’s Platform.