  Social participation is known to bring great benefits to the health and
well-being of people as they age. From being in contact with others to engaging
in group activities, keeping socially active can help slow down the effects of
age-related declines, reduce risks of loneliness and social isolation and even
mortality in old age. There are unfortunately a variety of barriers that make
it difficult for older adults to engage in social activities in a regular
basis. In this chapter, we give an overview of the challenges to social
participation and discuss how technology can help overcome these barriers and
promote participation in social activities. We examine two particular research
threads and designs, exploring ways in which technology can support co-located
and virtual participation: i) an application that motivates the virtual
participation in group training programs, and ii) a location-based game that
supports co-located intergenerational ICT training classes. We discuss the
effectiveness and limitations of various design choices in the two use cases
and outline the lessons learned
