The project starts from the need to involve elderly people in an innovative cultural path, in order to give them new learning opportunities, aiming to meet the need for knowledge and physical and mental exercise as well as decrease their loneliness. The project is therefore aimed at the over 60 population of 4 European countries, who will participate in the project activities with the aim of increasing the cultural offer aimed at this age group that is increasingly in need of a rich and interesting social involvement. Together with them, the project will involve adult educators, who will develop new professional skills (new methodologies for lifelong learning for the elderly), deepen their knowledge of the world of the elderly, of their local territory from the historical-artistic point of view, becoming support and a reference point for the elderly population with whom they will establish a relationship of complicity and sharing of the experience. Objectives The general objective of the project is to foster the exchange of good practices for the involvement of seniors in artistic, cultural and heritage promotion activities, in order to promote active ageing through lifelong learning through art. The specific objectives of the project are: - To improve the skills of lifelong learning experts in order to make them promoters of innovative educational methodologies for the elderly population, based on the valorisation of local cultural heritage; - To improve the artistic and cultural knowledge and skills of seniors, through a non-formal methodology based on artistic workshops, comparison between generations, study of the territory and its artists with their art forms, knowledge of the institutions that keep those works of art; - Strengthening cooperation between cultural associations, cultural heritage management bodies, museums, civil society organisations from different European contexts. The project will benefit the following target groups: GT1: Elderly population from the 4 partner countries GT2: Trainers, educators, activity leaders with senior citizens. Methodology Project partners were selected on the basis of their good practices in the field of involving older people in artistic and cultural activities. During the project, adult educators coming from project countries, will be trained on the selected good practice, “The jewels of Umbria”, through a transnational mobility experience. Once adult educators have been trained, they will develop a plan for the adaptation of the good practice identified by SiripArte, "The Jewels of Umbria", at local level. The plan will be put into practice by building art workshops for the elderly population, that will be linked with tangible reality such as museums and local cultural heritage. Workshops will end with visits to museums or places of art, in order to promote and complete the knowledge of the subject. At the end of the project, a video-tutorial will be produced containing the images and videos shot by the beneficiaries involved in the workshops. The results of the project can be summarized in brief: - People over 60 involved will be more active in society, reducing the risk of marginalization and involuntary loneliness; - Partner organizations and lifelong learning experts will have new tools for the involvement of the older community in activities of appreciation and dissemination of local cultural heritage; - Long life learning education experts will have the opportunity to improve their skills in different artistic fields; - The dialogue between cultural associations, adult training centres and associations working in the inclusion of older people will be consolidated; -A common line of action will be identified between the countries involved for the social inclusion of the elderly population through education through art.
The general objective of SENECA was to foster the exchange of best practices for the involvement of senior citizens in arts, cultural and heritage promotion activities in order to promote active aging through lifelong learning through the arts. The specific objectives of the project were: - To improve the skills of adult education experts in order to make them promoters of innovative educational methodologies for the elderly population, based on the enhancement of local cultural heritage; - To improve the artistic and cultural knowledge of elderly people, through a non-formal methodology based on art workshops, intergenerational comparison, the study of the area and its artists with their art forms, knowledge of the institutions managing those works of art; - Strengthening cooperation between adult education centers, cultural associations, cultural heritage management bodies, museums, civil society organizations from different European contexts.
One of the major challenges that Europe is facing, there is the social inclusion of disadvantaged groups, particularly the elderly population. Increasing life expectancy and decreasing birth rates in Europe are reshaping the age pyramid in the EU. As the relative number of elderly people increases, it becomes crucial for European societies to adapt to the new needs expressed by an increasing proportion of the population. For a growing number of older people, loneliness is one of the main causes of physical and mental decline. Therefore, there is an increasing need to ensure a plurality of services and places that help the elderly get out of isolation while keeping body and minds active. For this reason, it was considered essential to involve people of the third and fourth ages in the cultural path proposed by the project, so as to give the elderly the opportunity for learning, aiming to satisfy the need for knowledge and physical and mental exercise as well as to decrease their loneliness.