Preparation for active ageing is a complex task not only for those who have arrived to retirement age but also for younger generations. Demographic forcasts claim, that societies in Europe are getting older. The share of people over age 60 has reached 25-34% in some "aging societies”. The social and individual consequences of demographic change have not been developed sufficiently by European societies. Neither the economy nor the social welfare systems have made comprehensive reforms to ensure the sustainability of these systems. The increasing share of elderly population makes a burden on welfare system and the budgets of the national economies. During the past 30 years a new political concept appeared that elderly age has to be treated differently. It should be approached as a new possibility for the involved generations isntead of a burden. There are enormous capacities still in elderly people and there is a need to utilise their accumulated knowledge and experience. Nevertheless the overwhelming majority of elderly people and their families do not prepare consciously for the new phase of life. Our project aims to formulate curricula for adult learners with good practices and innovative solutions of conscious preparation for active aging. We intend to reveal and present activities increasingly needed in aging societies and are not - or hardly - accessible by formal learning methods. We are going to build a complex folk high school curricula, which provide complex knowledge via domestic and international examples. It will offer transferable knowledge to different generations, families, communities. They utilize innovative methods, knowledge to get prepared for active aging. Our project's overall goal is to consciously prepare generations for active aging via applying non-formal learning tools. The direct goal is to compile and disseminate an expandable curricula of four modules, which include essential knowledge for all generations about active aging. Four partners, very different form each other decided to form a partnership and define common goals and activities to achive the desrcibed goals. The partners are: Alsómocsolád local government, XVth. district goverment of Budapest, Al. Peca Small Enteprise from Slovenia and the Bjerkaker Lab., from Norway. The partners have already known each before they common proejct experiences. We designed a complex curricula with 4 innovative modules targeting different groups of people and we expect several outputs and outcomes during and after the completion of our project. Outputs of our project are: • Four modules of the curricula are based on different themes as intellectual outputs. • Reports from four transnational project meetings. • Eight newsletters (one/quarter) to the stakeholders and the public • Two printed leaflets of the project • Digital photo-collection on the events of the project placed on the websites (approximately 500 photos) • Quality assurance document about the prepared curricula • Minutes of the methodology training • Notes and documentation of the test teaching from every partner. • Notes of the national and international multiplier events (12 event). • Project presentation on 4 websites, one by each partner • Outcomes of the project are: • Working network of partners • Learning good practices and new ideas by the partners and those who participate in the dissemination • Sharing knowledge by the experts and the participants of test teaching • New skills gained by final beneficiaries due to the prepared modules • The intellectual work is self-rewarding and also gets outside appreciation from final beneficiaries • The partner organizations gain appreciation from other organizations developing the curriculum • The project cooperation would affect the work, organizational solutions of the partners, would bring new cooperation methods and long term partnerships. • The joint work would promote better understanding of different cultures and life situations of generations in different countries. • Members of the partner organizations gain new knowledge and become aware of the process of an international partnership and its requirements. In our project we are going to consider all age groups - young, middle-aged, and the aging population themselves - as target groups. The process of growing old takes place in various ways and ‘routes’. The seniors cannot be regarded as a homogeneous group. Potetial benefits of using our curricula by civil organizations, families, communities is to make these these 'routes' interesting and useful. The social visibility of the elderly and search for "elderly-friendly" solutions is also imortant. Longer term benefits can be to demolish unfavorable stereotypes affecting the elderly. Further longer term benefit is the useful knowledge for all ages that helps younger and aging age groups prepare for aging, foster generations coexistence, and develop solidarity between generations.
Context/background of the project Beyond the general phenomena of the ageing in Europe each partner struggles with these issues in their own environment. Therefore each of them found his topic relevant and in a way burning in their circumstances. They also realized that ageing issue is in these societies treated differently and it is necessary to provide tools which help elderly people and other generations, families, communities to get prepared for this life period and also get answers to the emerging questions.Changing the perspecive and attitudes towads elderly age is also very important. During the past 30 years a new political concept appeared,namely that the elderly age has to be treated differently. This concept claims that elderly age is a new possibility instead of a burden for the individuals and the society. This is very attractive concept but when it comes to realization,elderly people usually do not get or get less what they deserve, neither in honor, nor in financial terms or work and leisure opportunities etc. There is enormous human capacity still in elderly people and there is a need to utilise their accumulated knowledge and experience. The overwhelming majority of elderly people and their families still do not get prepared consciously for the new phase of life. Objectives Our project aimed to formulate curricula for adult learners with good practices and innovative solutions of conscious preparation for active ageing. We intended to reveal and present activities increasingly needed in ageing societies that are not - or hardly - accessible by formal learning methods. We created a complex folk high school curricula, which provide knowledge based on local experiences and experiments in the partner’s countries and beyond. The knowledge in the curricula is usable to different generations, individuals,families, communities. They can utilize the practical and innovative methods desribed and demonstrated in eachcurriculum. Our project's overall goal is to consciously prepare generations for active ageing via applying non-formal learning tools. The direct goal is to compile and disseminate an expandable curricula of four modules, which include essential knowledge for all generations about active ageing. type/profile of participants Four partners, very different fromeach other decided to form a partnership and define common goals and activities to achievethe describedgoals.The partners are: Alsómocsolád local government is a governing body of a small village in the South Transdanubian Region in Hungary with 300 inhabitants. However, they have long history in project development and elderly care, they manage an elderly home in the village and hold several national and international awardsfor their social activities. XVth. district government of Budapest is one of the best capital districts in the field of elderly care and attention to issues of elderly age.They gained significant experience in elderly care, treating people living with dementia and developing civil partnerships in this field etc.A.L.P. Peca a non-government and non-profit organization in Slovenia in the Carinthian region,close to the Austrian border. It is dedicated to provide services for indivudals, entrepreneurs, institutions, and local communities. The company explores development opportunities for the people living in Meza Valley, provides consultancy, project managment, information etc. A.L.P. Peca is the host structure of the information point Europe Direct Koroška that is a part of Europe Direct network and also the managing unit of the local Leader group. The Bjerkaker Learning Lab., from Oslo, is a small not for profit NGO enterprise in Norway. It is managed by Sturla Bjerkaker who has a lifetime experience in adult learning, and education, etc. He was the chairman of the Adult Learning Association, an umbrella organization in Norway for more than a decade. The partners have already known each before this project started and they had previous project experiences. Description of undertaken activities; We designed a complex curricula with 4 innovative modules targeting different groups of people and we expected several outputs and outcomes during and after the completion of our project. To achieve this we organized four transnational meetings, where the partners debated the manuscripts of each others. The partners arranged so called test teaching to tryout how the different curricula work in a real situation.Each partner managed live and digital dissemination and multiplication activities. The coordinator, with the participation of the partners, has prepared 9 newsletters to inform the public about the ongoing events and produced two printed brochures about the main issues and results of the project. Results and impact attained; if relevant, longer-term benefits. Outputs of our project are: • Four modules of the curricula are based on different themes as intellectual outputs. • Reports from four transnational project meetings. • Eight newsletters (one/quarter) to the stakeholders and the public. • Two printed leaflets of the project. Strategy for dissemination • Digital photo-collection on the events of the project placed on the websites (approximately 500 photos). • Quality assurance document about the preparedcurricula. • 4 methodology material (ppt or written guidelines) how to teach the different material. • Project presentation on 4 websites, one by each partner. Outcomes of the project are: • Working network of partners. • Learning good practices and new ideas by the partners and those who participated in the dissemination. • Shared knowledge by the experts and the participants of test teaching. • New skills gained by final beneficiaries due to the prepared modules. • The intellectual work is self-rewarding, verbal and written appreciation from final beneficiaries. • The partner organizations gained appreciation from other organizations for developing the curriculum. • The project cooperation had an impact on the work of the partners,it brought new cooperation methods and long term partnerships. • The joint work promoted better understanding of different cultures and life situations of generations in the participating countries. • Members of the partner organizations gained new knowledge and became aware of the process of an international partnership and its requirements. Long term benefits In the project the partners envisaged all age groups - young, middle-aged, and the ageing population themselves - as target groups. The process of growing old takes place in various ways and ‘routes’. The seniors cannot be regarded as a homogeneous group. Potential benefits of using our curricula by civil organizations, families, communities - is to make these 'routes' interesting and useful.The curricula with its different themes and practical approaches and easy and free access via internet provide and important tool for elderly and other age-groups and individuals to get the knowledge needed for them. The social visibility of the elderly and search for "elderly-friendly" solutions is also important. Longer term benefits will be the use of practical knowledge, the physical exercises, entering into the digital world or joining different communities by the impact of the curricula. Learning of care activities for family members living with demencia is also very important. It can also demolish the unfavourable stereotypes affecting the elderly. Further longer term benefit is to help better understand each other or different generations.