Visual representations of aging have historically relied upon binarized clichés: idealized youthfulness versus frailty and illness. To challenge these oversimplified depictions, graduate students developed a community outreach project titled ‘Seniors of Canada’. The aim of this project was twofold: (1) share images and stories of people in later life; and (2) challenge dominant narratives and stereotypes of aging. In this note, we outline the prevailing discourse of what aging ‘looks like’, how we collected stories and images, and implications for knowledge mobilization and research in Canada. This article highlights insights gained since the inception of the project, including three key learnings: (1) Building bridges across academia and community, (2) Intergenerational connection and digital tools, and (3) The power of visual storytelling. We provide a practical overview of a successful knowledge mobilization/community outreach project and showcase the power of bridging academia and community for social change.

The concept of knowledge mobilization (KMb) is prominent in governance frameworks of tri-council funding in Canada. Yet there are a number of conceptual and practical challenges when such ideas are proposed for adoption across large multidisciplinary contexts. This research note introduces the concept of critical knowledge mobilization as a way to understand KMb in large multidisciplinary teams and social gerontology. It begins with a high-level sketch of the historic changes in knowledge production and knowledge sharing, followed by a definition of critical knowledge mobilization and examples of historical ideas and everyday tensions in practice. Building on these, we propose the need to advance and shift the culture of KMb, and to embark on engaged research as a means of innovation. We suggest that a reflexive process of critical KMb can facilitate innovation and promote a culture of knowledge mobilization in Canadian social gerontology.