Newsletter 4 

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Newsletter AGES

May 2023

 

The project

The AGES project aims to empower older European citizens in their daily lives and to help them improve their quality of life. The partners strive to give older people the knowledge, tools and strategies to be active players in their own ageing and not passive spectators. Our consortium, composed of 6 European countries, aims to develop the tools and training necessary to empower seniors in their ageing. These tools cover a wide range of topics such as stress management, digital training and even language learning. AGES also wants to encourage intergenerational exchanges as we believe that both generations will benefit from this exchange as they have a lot to learn from each other.

 

Our results so far

LTTA in Paris, France

Following the LTTA in Gijón, the partners of the AGES project met again to discover more about good practices implemented by municipalities for seniors, and this time in the city of Paris! This training week was specifically focused on the themes of Social participation, Civic participation and Employment for seniors.

The participants had the opportunity to learn more about and discover: 

  • The “Civic service for seniors’ solidarity” programme of the Île-de-France region, which works in the intergenerational solidarity area with the objective of helping the elderly through the commitment of young people, 
  • A Seniors’ English conversation club, including discussions on the active retirement and civic participation and on whether Paris is an age-friendly city, as well as whether the partners’ cities are & Exchange of good practices, 
  • An overview of the age-friendly facilities in the 15th district of Paris, with its Deputy Mayor Sylvie Ceyrac, 
  • The European Grandparents School, including a discussion on “How to be an active grandparent and how to stay active for young retirees”, 
  • A visit at the “Paris in Company” Association, on the theme “Promote the mobility of older people and combat their isolation”.

LTTA in The Hague, the Netherlands

The whole consortium met in The Hague, The Netherlands, for our LTTA organised by our partner LIDI Smart, during the first week of April 2023. This meeting gave us the opportunity to learn more about the good practices implemented by different cities in The Hague region to help its seniors stay active throughout their retirement.

The consortium was welcomed by the municipality of The Hague, which presented its various initiatives to adapt the city to the well-being of seniors and to offer them an excellent living environment. The participants also exchanged on the use of new technologies for seniors, and the importance of an active retirement. 

IO1 Guidebook on Age-friendly Cities and Communities 

Our Guidebook on Age-friendly Cities and Communities, finalised over the past year under the lead of the University of Porto, is now being actively disseminated by AGES partners, both in their own countries and more globally through their networks. The Guidebook, translated into English and each of the partner countries’ languages, is available on our project website: https://agesproject.eu/

We are all very proud of this success and this result!

IO2 Online Learning Seniors and Seniors’ E-Handbook

After all the partners had organised the structure of the E-Handbook under the direction of E-Seniors, they all participated in its writing. The E-Handbook contains three main learning units, which present the most important points and specifics on the following topics: 

  • Financial aspects of active retirement and professional life for seniors, 
  • Social aspects of active retirement,
  • Educational aspects of active retirement and learning after retirement.

All these units also contain examples of activities that seniors can do, a series of self-assessment questions, and finally a last section entitled “Questions to ask yourself before engaging in new activities”, which should allow each senior to reflect on his or her motivations and capacities for engagement according to his or her needs and constraints.

These Learning Units, which aim to remain very general in order to address as many senior citizens as possible, by offering them some food for thought, are followed by a set of practical guides dedicated to each of the project’s member countries: Turkey, Poland, France, Portugal, the Netherlands and Spain, and written specifically by the partner of the country in question. These country-specific resources and examples deal with the same three main themes as the Learning Units, but go into more depth on the specificities of each country, as well as the related issues and possible questions to consider for a senior citizen wishing to discover new activities after retirement.

Each of these sections gives specific examples of existing activities, as well as contact details, so that interested seniors can contact the organisers directly.

These Learning Units are followed by practical guides for each of the partner countries, compiling ideas and practical advice for senior citizens or any middle-aged people wishing to prepare for their retirement now. They contain a list of examples and advice accessible to all. 

This guide will be followed by a series of online courses, organised from September onwards by the whole consortium in English, aimed at senior citizens or professionals working in this field.

The E-Handbook will soon be available on the AGES website in English and in all languages of the project. 

IO3  Development of a Digital System “EasyLearn”

Our partner LidiSmart presented its first ideas and proposals for the preparation of IO3 during our previous meetings. We will now be working on its realisation over the next few months under his leadership. 

Next steps 

Our Project Intellectual Outputs: 

IO2 Online Learning Seniors and Seniors’ E-Handbook

E-Seniors, with the help of all partners, is preparing an Online Learning Course, accessible to all. These courses will cover the content of the different chapters of the Seniors’ E-Handbook:

  • Financial aspects of active retirement and professional life for seniors
  • Social aspects of active retirement
  • Educational aspects of active retirement
  • Country-specific resources and examples for
    • Turkey
    • Poland 
    • France 
    • Portugal 
    • The Netherlands 
    • Spain
  • How to prepare for active & successful ageing for middle-aged people 

It will be held in English and partners’ languages, and all participants, seniors, people or organisations interested in the issue of good and active ageing, are welcome to attend! The dates will be communicated very soon through all the project partners and their social networks.

And if you are already interested, don’t hesitate to contact us on our social networks (see below)!

IO3  Development of a Digital System “EasyLearn”

Our partner LidiSmart is now working on the first version of the “EasyLearn” application, an open education digital system for the provision of the training material developed throughout the project to both the elderly and trainers working in the adult education field together with the nursing and rehabilitation center for the elderly, as part of AGES’ IO3. All partners will soon be able to see this first version, and test it with volunteer participants to try out the different aspects of this application.

We will update you regularly on our progress on AGES social media pages! 

Our Project Meetings: 

TPM in Poznań, Poland

In a few months, the whole team will gather again in Poznań, Poland, for our final TPM organised by our partner Parasol Foundation. During this meeting, we will finalise the last elements of the AGES project that need to be reviewed, and we will finish organising the last dissemination events of our project, in order to make our activities and success known to as many people as possible!

Keep in touch on our Facebook page to find out more! 

You want more? 

Check-out our website or our social media page! 

Also here are some resources on what’s new regarding digital active ageing: 

AGE Platform Europe is full of information and resources for 50+:   https://www.age-platform.eu/

GRANT AGREEMENT 2020-1-TR01-KA204-092414