This conference marks the first steps of the European project BALL -­‐ Be Active through Lifelong Learning. The number of citizens reaching third age is steadily increasing, active, healthy and eager to take on further tasks through learning, by sharing their knowledge and experience in society and through interaction between generations. The third age should be planned for and lived as a new age of freedom. The overall aim of the conference is to address and examine ways and means to add  value to the third age, for the benefit of the individual and the society at large. It is especially directed to those (50+) who foresee an upcoming change in their professional life towards the third age. It also addresses the importance of these issues for general human resource management. The conference aims at  presenting some examples of how such changes can be managed successfully and providing incentives and encouragement to act, and to act in good time.