Age prejudice is one of the most socially condoned and institutionalised prejudices. Its mechanism is similar to discrimination: people are marginalised, deprived of responsibility, power and dignity in the name of age. The objective of the project is to support the professional and personal development of professionals through intergenerational and age-friendly focused curriculum development and adult education, contributing to the cohesion of society. Our aim is to reduce the gap between generations and to strengthen active involvement in raising awareness and reducing age-based (internalised) prejudices, motivating project participants of different ages to consciously shape their own lives and their immediate environment. We set out to develop a concrete solution to reduce prejudices: through quality, intergenerational dialogue, by breaking down stereotypes and disseminating information that gives a credible image of the older generations. We have developed a useful, effective and interactive method for professionals and organisations who, like us, want to make their own communities age-friendly.
We have prepared a professional programme for the project to start building a strategic long-term perspective to achieve the social impact we want. The project provided us with the opportunity to take the first step in linking and developing the conscious ageing ecosystem in Europe and in Pécs, focusing on a specific thematic area, intergenerational relations. We started with the need to transfer knowledge and experience, so that the professionals involved in the project could on the one hand get to know an age-friendly and intergenerationally focused innovative approach to social sustainability, and on the other hand have words and common experiences for situations arising along the global and local polycrisis, in order to develop a common professional language, which forms the basis for our international and local actions. To meet these complex challenges, we need the knowledge, experience and creativity of all generations, which in turn requires generations to come together. In designing the project, it was important for us to strengthen the supportive role of the professionals involved in our adult education programmes, so that their practical work reflects the need to strengthen social cohesion.