One of the 17 UNESCO Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) is good health and well-being for all. Healthy ageing is about "optimising opportunities for good health, so that older people can take an active part in society and enjoy an independent and high quality of life" (www.healthyageing.eu). New technologies is defined as one of the key determinants to reach healthy ageing. Technologies are developing at a rapid pace, and affect every sphere of life, resulting in a huge 'digital gap' between our generation Z (Gen Z) youngsters and the elderly population. Although often considered a barrier to participation by older people, Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) can play a key part in helping them to lead more independent and healthy lives. Older people may benefit from age-friendly technologies, allowing them to live independently, monitor their health, create and maintain social networks, stay in contact with friends and family, access goods and services, and engage in work or voluntary activities. However, it is important to give older people adequate time to become accustomed to new technologies. 'E-inclusion' in this respect is important, as it aims to prevent people from being 'left behind' in enjoying the benefits of ICT. It means focussing on the participation of all individuals and communities in all aspects of information society, and to help reduce gaps between younger and older people so as to improve people's quality of life and social participation. A strategic partnership of 3 technical secondary education schools in Belgium, Slovakia and Norway, with Erasmus+ experience in cooperation on Internet of Things (IoT) technologie for smart houses, wants to create smart products for healthy ageing. Each school builds a partnership with a local retirement home, defining several challenges for healthy ageing solutions. They can be related to safety (e.g. fall detection), mobility (e.g. GPS-tracking), communication, health monitoring (e.g. heart beat, body temperature), daily planning, ... Intercultural differences can be detected between the different countries. Students will be linked to these challenges and their clients (older people). This is an innovative approach because not only a technological solution will be provided but also social inclusion and closing the digital gap between different generations is realised. Using co-creation, the older people are part of the design team. This project proposal aims at realising following objectives: 1. strengthening competences (insight, knowledge and practice) for secondary education students in the application of digital technologies (e.g. IoT) for the purpose of healthy ageing 2. creating solutions for the needs of older people using new technologies 3. narrowing the digital gap between different generations and reducing social isolation using co-creation methodology 4. strengthening of social, international and intercultural competences for secondary education students and teachers and rising the awareness that global problems can only be solved by co-creation across nations In this 2 year project, students will be connected to older people, defining in co-creation the most urgent needs to improve quality of life. Using the international partner network, technological solutions will be prototyped and tested and expertise will be shared. The older people, being the client, will be able to follow and interact in the design process using digital media platforms (website, blogsite, facebook, ...). They will be part of the project team having the feeling of 'being useful and social active'. As a result, they will be trained by the GenZ students to use digital media to stay connected to the project status. Through 3 learning/teaching/training mobilities of 38 students and 12 teachers within the partnership schools, exchange of best practices and understanding of intercultural differences in healthy ageing will be realised. This project also contributes to make STEM programmes in secondary education more attractive to girls. During the project, each partner organises local dissemination events for primary and secondary schools and industrial partners to promote STEM education. At the end of the project, a broader dissemination event will take place in the coordinating school. On-line educational material will be made and dissiminated to a broader network of stakeholders.
One of the 17 UNESCO Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) is good health and well-being for all. Healthy ageing is about "optimising opportunities for good health, so that older people can take an active part in society and enjoy an independent and high quality of life" (www.healthyageing.eu). New technologies is defined as one of the key determinants to reach healthy ageing. Through this Erasmus+ project "Smart products for healthy ageing", we used technology to close the gap between different generations and find solutions to improve people's quality of life and social participation. The partners in this project were convinced that exchange of technological knowledge and experience and co-creation between different countries can enhance the education quality of each partner and make curricula more future proof (21st century skills). "Smart products for healthy ageing" project is a strategic partnership of 3 technical secondary schools in Belgium, Slovakia and Norway. The strategic partnership achieved following goals: - strengthening key competences in the curricula of secondary technical education by introducing new technologies in practical setups for healthy ageing in Belgium, Slovakia and Norway - arising of the awareness for students and teachers of technical orientation that they play a crucial role in the implementation of new technologies in order to reach the global sustainable goals (such as Well-being). They will have a lifelong need to update their technological skills in this rapid evoluting society. - improving the social and intercultural competences of students and teachers and arising the awareness that global problems can only be solved by co-creation across nations and generation (young and older people) These goals are realised through the exchange of good practices and knowledge available in the partner schools. During three learning/teaching/training activities, two expert teachers from each partner applied their knowledge and experience to upgrade and optimise the practical setups . Students from each partner tested the setups and the developed materials. The learning effect was measured and used as an input for the development of online educational material, that is integrated in the curricula of the three partner schools. During the project period, 50 physical mobilities of students and teachers were realised together with 15 participating students Following examples of technological solutions to improve the quality and safety of elderly people daily life have been developed in this partnership: - heart beat and body temperature monitoring and visualisation; - smart medication dispenser; - pedometer; - fall and position detection; - smart mirror; - fire detection; - light control through google home and VOIP; - acoustical control. During the project, each partner organised local dissemination events for primary and secondary schools and industrial partners. Our fine event could not be organised physically but an alternative online closing meeting has been organised. This strategic partnership is sustainable. During this partnership, a new project proposal has been submitted and accepted for Erasmus+ funding.