News

January 2026
Spain

Ikigai is a Japanese concept that combines Iki (生き: life) and Gai (甲斐: value, meaning, reason). Its most common meaning could be expressed as "having a reason to live", a profound reason that guides existence and nourishes emotional well-being. It does not refer to significant events, but to what gives meaning to everyday life: feeling useful, contributing, supporting, creating, caring or sharing.

The philosophy of Ikigai maintains that when a person identifies what they love, what they are good at, what they bring to the world and what allows them to maintain their balance, they find a vital equilibrium that strengthens their health, self-esteem and physical and emotional well-being.

From a positive psychology perspective, Ikigai can be seen as a factor in preventing depression and cognitive decline in older people, promoting resilience and a sense of usefulness. Several studies in geriatrics show that having a purpose in life is associated with lower cortisol levels, better sleep quality and greater longevity.

Okinawa, in southern Japan, is one of the so-called "Blue Zones", areas where it is common for people to live beyond 90 and 100 years of age while remaining highly independent. Research highlights several key factors in this extraordinary longevity:

• A healthy diet
• Daily physical activity
• A strong social fabric
• Strong community ties
• The presence of a clear and shared ikigai

In Okinawa, older people actively participate in community networks, intergenerational groups and solidarity activities that give them a purpose in their daily lives. The meaning of life does not retire: it reinvents itself. Tending a vegetable garden, helping a neighbour, teaching a trade or participating in community activities are an essential part of an ikigai that is built from within the community.

From the viewpoint of social gerontology, the case of Okinawa illustrates how psychosocial factors, beyond biological factors, influence the longevity and functional autonomy of older people.

From Okinawa to Bortziriak thanks to Elkarrizan

The Social Action Department of the Bortziriak Community of Municipalities, which brings together five municipalities in northern Navarre (Spain), is a partner in the European GINKGO project.

Bortziriak coordinates the Elkarrizan volunteer programme, which is a concrete and powerful form of Ikigai. The 68 volunteers who are part of the programme not only support those in need, they also strengthen community cohesion, create meaningful connections and find a purpose that enriches their own lives.

Volunteering has a two-way effect that makes it particularly valuable:

• For those receiving support: it reduces loneliness, offers emotional support, and promotes social participation as well as functional and cognitive autonomy.

• For volunteers: it generates a sense of well-being, usefulness, social recognition and belonging to a group, thereby improving their own emotional and social health.

Neuroscience confirms this: altruistic activities activate the brain circuits associated with well-being, increase oxytocin and serotonin levels, reduce stress and decrease feelings of loneliness. In other words, doing good also generates well-being for the person doing it.

Many volunteers say that Elkarrizan has become a meeting place where they feel part of a common project, a space where they can give, receive and share. A form of Ikigai that arises from commitment to others and, at the same time, promotes their own well-being.

Furthermore, Elkarrizan creates strong links between the five villages of Bortziriak. This experience shows how organized community action can complement public welfare policies, particularly in dispersed rural areas, by strengthening social cohesion and community resilience.

Elkarrizan demonstrates that Ikigai is not a distant or abstract philosophy: it is a daily experience that is built from within the community.

The GINKGO project places this vision within a European framework, calling for the fight against isolation among older people to be transformed into a strategy for social cohesion, participation and well-being. In Bortziriak, this vision is already becoming a reality. Day after day, volunteering strengthens a community fabric that accompanies, supports and gives meaning, making our villages a place where Ikigai becomes reality.