Association Generations
Bulgaria
The original idea behind the project was hatched during last year´s event “The Year of Intergenerational Dialogue”. Our organisation deals with elderly people and we wanted to organise something in the framework of the1st of October, international day of older persons.
The objective of the project was to find new ways to engage older people in society – to focus on their social and active participation in the labour market. Another goal was to see what young people could bring to or teach older people. We focused on the question “how are old people economically profitable for society?”
We thought of key factors for creating a better situation for the elderly – independent life, participation in society, age discrimination and active participation in the labour market as well as overcoming physical and psychological barriers for independent living.
We organised a day of events to highlight the benefits that older people bring to society. The first event was a conference on the topic, with an educational programme containing presentations, discussions and debates. Secondly, four companies showcased their products for better living in the 3rd age, providing leaflets and other informational material. The products ranged from equipment for measuring blood pressure and tools for maintaining a healthy diet to sport appliances and so on.
The third event was an exhibition by a woman who started to paint at the age of 50.
We focused on elderly people (over the age of 70) who want to be active in society. The participants came from various groups: Pensioners or seniors attending daily centres; representatives for cultural networks within the daily centres, educational centres, volunteering organisations, VET centres and colleges and people with different disabilities. We had a total of 45 participants. The event took place in a big centre, on the 9th of October 2012.
We plan to do it again in October 2013 – but not in the same way. This time, we plan to do a seminar where we will present and announce training opportunities for elderly people. We´re also thinking about other opportunities. We received feedback stating that people would like to receive information about vacations, specifically aimed at people over the age of 50. We´re developing training activities based on this feedback.
Key elements of success:
We focused on how and what adults can learn from young people – about working with new media and how it would help adapt the elderly to today’s rapidly changing lifestyle.