Milan Summit 2026: Co-Creation and a Proposed Global Brain Capital Agenda

*How do we move from promising ideas and individual initiatives to a shared global agenda for brain health and longevity?* The future of prevention and healthy longevity cannot be shaped by scientists, healthcare systems, or policymakers alone. It requires citizens, patients, communities, innovators, researchers, foundations, and institutions to work together, connecting lived experience with science and translating knowledge into action. This extended session from *Longevity by Design: Building Community-Based Brain Capital* at the Milan Longevity Summit 2026 brings together two connected conversations exploring how that collaboration can move from principle to practice, and ultimately towards coordinated global action. The first discussion, *Citizens, Patients, Innovators and Communities as Co-Creators of the Prevention and Longevity Agenda*, examines what changes when people are no longer simply recipients of healthcare but active participants in shaping it. *Kristin Schneeman, Caroline Montojo, Orla Galvin, Marco Mohwinckel, and Sylvain Piquet* explore how lived experience can inform research priorities, how patients and citizens can participate in designing new health solutions, and how innovation, philanthropy, advocacy, and entrepreneurship can help bridge the gaps between science, healthcare systems, and communities. The conversation then expands from participation to systemic action with *Towards a Global Plan of Action on Brain Capital and Longevity*. *Kristin Schneeman, Caroline Montojo, Orla Galvin, Frédérick Destrebecq, Mario Battaglia, Ira Haraldsen, and Bryan Strange* bring together perspectives spanning neuroscience, neurological health, patient advocacy, research, innovation, and policy to consider what a coordinated Brain Capital agenda could look like. How can we move from fragmented initiatives towards shared priorities? What would it take to integrate brain health across prevention, research, healthcare, education, workplaces, and communities? How can scientific advances and innovation be translated into policies and interventions that reach people? And what forms of international collaboration are needed to make brain health a genuine societal priority? Together, the two conversations reflect an important evolution in how we think about Brain Capital. It is not simply about preventing neurological disease. It is about protecting and strengthening the *cognitive, emotional, and neurological resources that allow people to learn, work, connect, innovate, and participate meaningfully in society throughout longer lives*. *Participants across the two discussions:* • Kristin Schneeman – Senior Director, FasterCures • Caroline Montojo – President & CEO, Dana Foundation • Orla Galvin – Executive Director, European Federation of Neurological Associations • Marco Mohwinckel – President, Tech Tour Mental & Brain Health Programme • Sylvain Piquet – CEO, Five Lives • Frédérick Destrebecq – Executive Director, European Brain Council • Mario Battaglia – CEO, Italian MS Society; President, International Multiple Sclerosis Federation • Ira Haraldsen – Lead, Cognitive Health Research Group, Oslo University Hospital • Bryan Strange – Director, Laboratory for Clinical Neuroscience, Polytechnic University of Madrid • Co-chaired by Paola Zaratin – Director of Scientific Research, Italian MS Society – Italian MS Foundation • Co-chaired by Paweł Świeboda – Founder, NeuroCentury; Co-founder, Brain Capital Alliance The message across both discussions is clear: *Brain Capital cannot be built for people without building it with them.* Moving from co-creation to global action means connecting citizens and communities with science, innovation, institutions, and policy, and creating the shared infrastructure needed to make better brain health possible across the lifespan. #MilanLongevitySummit #BrainCapital #BrainHealth #HealthyLongevity #Neurology #PatientEngagement #CoCreation #Prevention #Neuroscience #Longevity