“BRinging STEM into Active agINg” (BRAIN) is a 24 months Strategic Partnership aimed at training Scientific Researchers to convey scientific knowledge and skills to elder Adults engaging them in an active aging process as well as taking an active educational role towards their peers and the other population bands which will foster their social inclusion. In the society perception, elder adults are seen as dead weights meaning that they do not have any meaningful and/or useful role to cover. “A common exercise is to instruct scientists to describe something as if we were explaining it to our grandmother. But how often do scientists actually explain science to their grandparents? Or to any senior citizens? That should change. The global population is aging – it’s expected that over 21% of people worldwide will be over the age of 60 by the year 2050 - but this large and growing portion of society is often left out of science outreach. Many STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) outreach initiatives target young students with the idea that our resources are best spent raising a scientifically literate and innovative next generation. While it’s certainly vital to instill a passion for science and data in our youths, we should also be devoting resources and effort to teaching our oldest members of society about them. It’s true that as we grow older, the branching network of neurons in our brains starts to get disrupted, but the “cognitive reserve” theory, proposes that engaging the brain throughout life strengthens the neuronal network so it can better withstand the effects of age. Even in advanced age, giving our brains a “workout” can still let neurons make new connections - and potentially even add whole new neurons - allowing us to learn new information. And, regardless of cognitive capacity, this learning has demonstrable physical, psychological, and social benefits” (B. Bibel – 2018). Objectives: - Training Scientific Researchers in fostering knowledge and skills related to Science and its fields among elder adults; - Stimulate elder Adults active citizenship as well as educational participation in the field of Science; - Engaging elder adults in taking an educational role towards the society acting as educators, leading educational workshops in their local communities aimed at contrasting their social exclusion and stereotypes targeted at them; - Creating concrete and efficient methodologies and outcomes that could be exploited transnationally.; - Adopt a Systems Thinking and System Dynamics approach as a metalanguage while fostering activity among elder people. Target groups: a) Scientific Researchers aged 35+ yo with at least 5 years of experience in the field (Joint Staff); b) Elder adults aged 60+ yo in retirement (Local Programme); c) Youth (13-17 yo), young adults (18-30 yo), adults (30-50 yo) and elder adults (50+ yo) population bands (Local Workshops). Implementation methodology/activities: Consortium of partners will produce a Research Report which will contain the educational needs of Scientific Researchers in matter of competences and methodologies to foster their knowledge to individuals not belonging to their sector of expertise, the educational need of elder Adults in matter of scientific subjects learning and existing educational offer in the frame of Citizen Science. The Report will set the base for the development of the “From the Laboratory to the City” Training Format (TF) based on NFE, Mentoring, Co-design and Systems Thinking modules as well as being used for the development of the IO2 “Science for Active Aging” Toolkit. The TF will be tested through an international Piloting JS involving Scientific Researchers. The Toolkit will be tested through a Local Programme implemented in partner country, that will be leaded by researchers and partner organizations’ Trainers, involving elder adults aged 60+ in retirement. Afterwards, elder adults will be deliver the “Science for All” workshops implemented in each partner country with the participation of representative of each population band, in which they will replicate the educational workshops previously learnt. Lastly, in order to strengthen the long-term impact of the project, Consortium partner will develop the “Science in your Life” game APP targeted to a wider audience of users. “BRAIN” project it envisaged to transmit a substantial and sustainable impact: elder Adults involved in the Local Programme after having acquired new knowledge and skills will act as learning outcomes replicators which will raise their self-esteem as well as fostering their social inclusion in the society while partner organizations will acquire new educational methodologies that can be translated in other sectors. Furthermore, all the outputs produced in the project have a transnational potential to be exploited even outside Consortium countries, setting the roots for a long-term prospective impact even after the end of the project.
BRAIN specific objectives which had to be achieved by implementing following activities: -By training scientific researchers in fostering knowledge and skills related to science and its fields among elder adults project-objective was to teach educators new forms of teaching adults (elders). -By stimulating elder adults active citizenship as well as educational participation in the field of science-objective was to show elders that at any age is possible to stay focused and mentally active. Also understanding of the engagement in teamworking played a crucial role. -By engaging elder adults in taking an educational role towards the society acting as educators, leading educational workshops in their local communities aimed at contrasting their social exclusion and stereotypes targeted at them-objective was to integrate elders socially and teaching them a new insights into science and how it can help them in a daily life. Another important aspect was to make them feel socially included. -By creating concrete and efficient methodologies and outcomes that could be exploited transnationally. The aim was to create universal materials and demonstrate new, effective methodologies that are adapted to the capabilities and needs of seniors.
Consortium has planned devoting resources and effort to teaching our oldest members of society about the STEM. It’s true that as we grow older, the branching network of neurons in our brains starts to get disrupted, but the “cognitive reserve” theory, proposes that engaging the brain throughout life strengthens the neuronal network so it can better withstand the effects of age. Even in advanced age, giving our brains a “workout” can still let neurons make new connections - and potentially even add whole new neurons - allowing us to learn new information. And, regardless of cognitive capacity, this learning has demonstrable physical, psychological, and social benefits. The project was addressed to older people, who often no longer take on knowledge development challenges on their own and for young educators working with seniors. The project's outcomes were designed to support older people's learning and trigger their desire to be mentally active.