Context and backgroundAn increasingly larger part of the population in industrialized countries is spending longer time in retirement than before. Increased life expectancy will lead to a steady increase in the number of people in their latter part of life. Consequently, it is of utmost importance for future Europe to guarantee the highest quality of life for this large group of citizens and to ensure that they have the opportunities to use the years after 50, their third age, to full extent and for society to use their valuable experience and knowledge. ObjectivesThe main objective of the project is to create an integrated system for enhancing and facilitating access to opportunities in lifelong learning for people in their latter part of life. The three steps proposed to be implemented in the project are an action to raise awareness, creating and test personal development courses for trainers and build a virtual "warehouse" of opportunities for individuals developed and tested with respect to specific needs in the partner countries with a view to generalisation to the whole of Europe.Number and profiles of partnersFive organisations cooperate in the project. Evris foundation is the applicant organisation responsible for management and organization. U3A Reykjavik provides learning and cultural ambiance and activities for its „third age“ members. Personal Development Foundation and Organization (FROiO) is a nonprofit organization conducting business activity and supporting people in the process of self-realization and personal development with emphasis on lifelong learning. Kaunas Science and Technology Park has more than 15 years of experience in assisting and supporting innovative and start-up and spin-off companies in Lithuania. The Career Center in Nord-Tröndelag region, Norway provides counselling to individuals and labour market.Description of activitiesThe project, Catch the BALL, is an implementation of ideas, guidelines and recommendations resulting from the work carried out in the Erasmus+ supported BALL project (Be Active through Lifelong Learning), now coming to an end. These results suggest a three step model to provide the aging generations of Europe with opportunities to prepare for a changing situation in the third age. The work to be undertaken in this project will bring these results forward to implementation. The three steps proposed are:• A model toolbox for a European Awareness Raising Campaign on a Dynamic Third Age will be designed. This concerns awareness raising in the society and among individuals on the opportunities, value and resource, inherent in the generation aged above 50, the third age. The campaign is aimed at the society as a whole and not the least the individuals themselves.• The “Personal Development Program” will be further tested through pilots and training events for trainers. The program is aimed at fulfilling the needs of people to enable them to find new ways and means to develop themselves for an active and dynamic third age. The output will be a tool for trainers and others engaged in adult education, coaching and counseling.• A Warehouse of Opportunities will be realized and tested, providing individuals and stakeholders with tools to find and to offer products to accommodate the needs and wishes identified, through the Personal Development Program or by other means. A web portal will be created gathering relevant and appropriate information for individuals on opportunities available in the partner countries with a view to Europe as a whole. Description of the results and impact envisaged The three steps present a new dimension in integrating all aspects of how best to prepare for changes in the third age. Implementing the personal development ideas through the course program testing and training of trainers will have an impact by presenting a new way of preparing for changes on the labor market in the latter part of life and for active retirement. The innovative idea of the Warehouse of Opportunities as a “virtual one stop shop” will have a large impact on the individual’s possibilities to find the best way to ensure an enjoyable future, be it a career change or a life in retirement. These tools will in combination with the awareness raising methodology have a large impact on how the society values the resource inherent in the third age.Potential longer term benefits.The material will be of use in arranging future activities in a long-term perspective. The project partners themselves and the sounding boards, the social partners, will be guided by the results of the project. It is expected that the Personal Development Program will be used as appropriate in each country. National or regional Warehouses of Opportunities are expected to be running in partner countries. It is envisaged that the model developed on awareness raising will be put to use in one or more of the partner countries, and enhance the importance of the other outputs.
An increasingly larger part of the population in industrialized countries is spending longer time in retirement than before. People can expect on the average a retirement that will last between a quarter to a third of their lifetime. The increasing life expectancy of individuals will lead to a steady increase in the number of people in retirement, their „third age“, and within Europe one can expect up to a quarter of the population in this category. The additional life expectancy of European citizens who have reached the age of 65 is estimated to be around 20 years, and has increased considerably over the last decades (Eurostat Demography Report 2010). The UN report on World Population Ageing 1950-2050 states that „Europe is currently the world’s major area with the highest proportions of older persons and is projected to remain so for at least the next 50 years. About 37 per cent of the European population is projected to be 60 years and above in 2050, up from 20 per cent in 2000 and almost 30 per cent is projected to be 65 and above, up from 15 per cent in 2000“. Consequently, it is of utmost importance for future Europe to guarantee the highest quality of life for this large group of citizens and to ensure that their valuable resources of experience and knowledge are made accessible to the younger generations and to the society at large. It is against this background that the project presented here was defined, aiming at facilitating the entry into dynamic third age, the years after 50, through early and successful planning. This project implemented the recommendations and guidelines developed in an earlier Erasmus + project, BALL (Be Active through Lifelong Learning). A survey undertaken in the BALL project showed that the expectations of people are more towards the positive rather than negative aspects of old age. Based on that conclusion and the team´s belief that it is essential for every individual and stakeholders at the labour market to prepare and to plan for an enjoyable and active latter part of life ( „third age“) the team also believed that it is important have access to appropriate tools and guidance to facilitate this exercise, the emphasis being on creating a stimulating learning environment and ambiance, and on the exchange of knowledge. The main objective of the project was to develop and implement two tools, i.e. European Warehouse of Opportunities and European Academy of Opportunities. There were four partners in this project: 1) Evris Foundation ses (Iceland) that was coordinator and took responsibility in leading an expert group in development of Academy of Opportunities. Evris Foundation was coordinator in previous BALL project and has a team of experts in teaching, development of curricula and coaching 2) U3A Reykjavík (Iceland) had a leading role in the expert group that took care of development of Warehouse of Opportunities. U3A Reykjavík is an association of people in their third age who want to keep on learning and sharing their knowledge. It is a part of an international movement of U3A which has now hundreds of thousands of members worldwide. 3) Kaunas Science and Technology Park (Kaunas STP) (Lithuania) is the largest partners of science and business cooperation in Lithuania. It offers training sessions and consultation for people that wants to establish business. 4) MBM Training and Development Centre (UK) offers trainings, consultancy and coaching for individuals and organisations. The main activities were to develop and implement two outputs, i.e. Warehouse of Opportunities and operating plan for it and an Academy of Opportunities - two tools for individuals at the entry of the third age (50+) and stakeholders at the labour market. All partners shared their expertise in this development work and outputs are highly qualified tools ready to be used in Europe in general (in English) and two specific countries (in Lithuanian and Icelandic). The tools have been presented and activated in countries concerned and presented to worldwide networks that focus on development of people of third age. Other activities, as a part of the development of Academy of Opportunities, were so called pre-pilots and pilots courses, undertaken in all three countries added to a Joint Short term training course. In all three countries there were Multiplier events where intellectual outputs, the two tools, were presented. Project´s consortia believe that longer-term benefits will be that individuals and stakeholders at labor market better understand and start to plan earlier for the the third part of life, i.e. at the age 50+.