Youth is the main protagonist in the future of the European Union on them rests the responsibility to propose, imagine and build our society in coming years. However, their dynamism and enthusiasm often contrasts with the lack of experience. With the learning that age can give and that our elders can teach. However today's society has focused its youth to economic development and productivity. At this juncture the image people have of the elderly is far from being attractive, generating social discrimination against old age leading to a culture where people do not want to grow old, as associated with this stage as a prelude to progressive disability and inactivity where the person loses the site, ownership, physical power, intellectual, sexual, economic, labor ... Age discrimination makes society exclude the elderly and they themselves often seem willing to exclude too, without assessing the importance that their knowledge can have on learning and growth of young people. How many young people live at home with their grandparents? How many of them live under the same roof without living? Many young people know everything that their grandparents can teach, considering housing as furniture without understanding everything that seniors can bring. Help revive the elderly and seek ways for the social inclusion of your grandparents and promote active aging is a way for young people to learn from their elders through an exchange of experiences and an intergenerational dialogue. A process that will help your grandparents, while strengthening the family unit and help young people to develop their skills. This aim is connected with the values of the EU, which has begun to fight against age discrimination and disability. Aware of the importance of older people, the European Commission has undertaken legislative initiatives to promote intergenerational dialogue and active aging. In this regard in 2000, the EU adopted Directive 2000/78 / EC and in 2012 adopted a proposal for a directive prohibiting discrimination on grounds of age. In the H2020 program and Erasmus Plus, active aging is a priority for Europe. But these legislative measures can not, by themselves, end discrimination on grounds of age or change our culture. For it is necessary that a new culture and the best place to do it is in every home through the direct involvement of young people are implemented. The “SEE-JUDGE-ACT"!: INTERGENERATIONAL PROJECT TO AID ELDERLY BY YOUNG" project aims at young people to become active agents that enhance social integration and inclusion of their own grandparents, based on the domestic environment, the once they learn and benefit from intergenerational dialogue and life experience of their elders. But getting active aging is not easy and task without prior knowledge, it is why juvenile and occupational therapists entities will help the youth to get through an innovative methodology called SEE-JUDGE-ACT. This project will create an exchange of experiences during 23 months between the Ocupación con Sentido Asociation (Spain), the Polytechnic Institute of Leiria (Portugal), the Arteveldehogeschool University (Belgium), Coda di Lupo (Italy) and OEJAB (Austria) in order to internationalize and improve a novel occupational therapy methodology that promotes youth employability and promote inclusive intergenerational dialogue. In addition to various associates as Youth Association of Occupational Therapy Students of Malaga, Active Bulgarian Society and the Association “Convocacion: Iniciativas educativas de Granada” This exchange of good practices will generate 4 transnational meetings (Belgium, Spain, Portugal and Austria) and among the various results a powerful virtual ToolBox containing various materials with great impact on youth will be included. This Toolbox is an educational space, from non-formal and informal methods to train young people who want to promote the inclusion of their elders and a forum for the exchange of best practices promoting intergenerational dialogue and online training. Finally the project will create an advisory service and ongoing training that will contact the trainers (teachers, occupational therapists, youth workers) with young people themselves to monitor learning. It will generate a sustainable network that includes new features and generate a process of continuous improvement of an innovative methodology with ability to have a real impact on two of the major European challenges: Tackling youth unemployment and active aging.
Youth are the main characters in the future of the European Union, since they have the responsibility to propose, imagine, and build our society in years to come, but their dynamism and enthusiasm often contrasts their lack of experience. One of the ways in which these young people can change society is by helping to promote the inclusion of one of the groups that need it the most: the elderly and seniors. Today’s society has an image of the elderly that is far from appealing or enviable, which generates a social discrimination towards old age that leads to a culture where people do not want to age. Discrimination by age causes society to exclude the elderly, and they themselves seem in many cases willing to socially “exile” themselves, not appreciating the importance that their knowledge can have on the learning and growth of young people. How many young people live in their homes with their grandparents? How many of them live under the same roof without truly “living together”? Many young people do not know what their grandparents and grandmothers can teach them, and just consider them another furniture item of the house, not understanding everything that they can provide. Helping to reactivate the elderly, finding ways for their social inclusion, and promoting their active aging is a way for young people to learn from their seniors through an exchange of experiences and an intergenerational dialogue. This is a process that will help their grandparents, also strengthening the family unit, and help young people to develop their skills. This objective is in line with the values of the EU, which has begun to fight discrimination based on age and disability. Aware of the great importance of older people, the European Commission has undertaken legislative initiatives to promote intergenerational dialogue and active aging. Thus, the EU adopted in year 2000 the Directive 2000/78 /EC, and in 2012 a proposal for a directive prohibiting discrimination based on age. Both with the H2020 program and in Erasmus Plus, active aging is made a priority for EUROPE. But these legislative measures cannot, on their own, put an end to discrimination based on age or change our culture. This is why it is necessary to develop a new culture, and the best place to do this is in individual homes through the direct involvement of young people. Since February 2017, the project “SEE-JUDGE-ACT” has worked to make young people become active agents that promote social re-integration and the inclusion of their own grandparents, starting from their home environment, while learning and benefiting from intergenerational dialogue and the life experiences of their elders. During 23 months, an intersectorial partnership has implemented an innovative methodology at the European level called SEE-JUDGE-ACT to train youth as promoters of inclusion and active aging for their grandparents in their home environment, while fostering intergenerational dialogue as a training tool for young people that reinforces household. During this time, we managed to generate a close and sustainable European network capable of proper networking, improving the practices of partner entities by internationalizing their projects, and giving them a greater European impact. To carry it out, we held 4 transnational meetings (in Belgium, Spain, Portugal, and Bulgaria) in which we managed to develop all the planned intangible results, and also many national activities (involving experts, youth, seniors, and occupational therapists) in which we developed all the tangible results, especially the “virtual ToolBox” that contains diverse materials with great impact on youth, within a web portal of European impact connected with social networks. Thus, this project has achieved all its proposed objectives, creating impactful results for its partners and collaborators (which will improve their European impact and working capabilities), for young people themselves (providing them with outreach tools for their training as therapists starting from non-formal and informal methodology, such as a forum for the exchange of good practices that strengthens intergenerational dialogue, and resources for online training), and also for the elderly, who will strengthen their ties with their grandchildren and develop an active aging. So, we believe that we have taken a first step, to be followed by many more, thanks to the creation of a sustainable network that addresses two of the major European challenges: a better training for young people through non-formal and informal, and an active aging for the elderly.