1. Project Objectives

Aims:

The project’s fundamental aim was to tackle the challenge of an ageing European population. Some central objectives of it were:
-To create a model of social and semi-professional activation of seniors (+55 years old) that will valorize a special competence of them, contribute to their employability and encourage their participation in the production/education process by developing the learning of others, specifically children/pupils aged 9-12.
-To develop the teaching competences of seniors and to make them informal teachers on a specific subject for children/pupils aged 9-12 years old.
-To organize informal learning environments for seniors, teachers and pupils and to help all three social and age groups to participate in these and to interact.
-To create a framework for networking and to develop synergies among partners, among partners and seniors and among partners, seniors and teachers.
-To create and develop a variety of outputs and products that will facilitate project’s sustainability.
-To disseminate and valorize the knowledge, experience, good practice and property acquired from the project to other national and European agencies.

Some additional spin off objectives were:
-To manage the increasing social and cultural diversity of Europe and to enhance intercultural dialogue.
-To promote to pupils the respect of multilingualism and the merits of foreign language learning.
-To increase the daily’s life quality and to promote a healthier life style, in all direct and indirect target groups.

Target groups:

Direct target group: Senior citizens aged 55+
Semi-direct target group: Pupils, aged 9-12 years old
Indirect target group: Teachers
Other beneficiaries: Parents, local communities, organisations/agencies with similar to the project objectives.

Involvement of target groups:

Senior Citizens:
Active participation in learning environments, such as training courses and tutoring sessions; contribution to the development and elaboration of project’s tangible products; initiation and execution of educational sessions addressed to pupils; participation in informative sessions addressed to teachers; sharing experiences, methods, best practices, knowledge with seniors from other partner countries; contribution to the assessment and evaluation of the project’s achievements and results.

Pupils/teachers:
Active participation in learning environments, such as educational workshops led by the seniors; contribution to the assessment and evaluation of project’s educational achievements and results. In addition, the teachers were involved in information sessions with educational aims as well.

How the project benefited the target groups:

Senior Citizens:
By developing their self confidence, their skills, their entrepreneurial spirit; by enhancing their sense of usefulness in the society; by valorizing their potential in a subject; by offering the opportunity to participate in intercultural activities where they can share ideas, experiences and knowledge with other fellow seniors and they can create bonds of friendship and future collaboration; by giving them the framework to become actively involved in educational environments, contacting pupils and teachers; by training/coaching/tutoring them in order to become informal teachers on a subject of their preference; by participating in productive procedures; by pleasing their self-fulfillment.
Pupils/Teachers: By developing their knowledge in extra-curricular subject; by enhancing their social solidarity, which strengthens the cohesion of the society and creates a more solid democratic upbringing.

Impact:
Contribution to the active ageing policy of local communities of partners; sensitization of local communities to establish active ageing initiatives; tackling the marginalization of seniors; facilitation for recognizing their potential and their eventual contribution to education; increasing the participation of seniors in lifelong learning; improvement of seniors’ personal, social and working/entrepreneurial spirit and basic social competences; promotion of an independent, healthy, high-quality and participative life; creation of new and/or updated informal educational settings; contribution in developing extra-curricular activities in school institutions; offer of proposals for new approaches in learning subjects; encouragement in greater investment in non formal education.

2. Project Approach

The project activities started in November 2007. A team of nine people was established to coordinate the project’s activities in all the partner countries with content and administrative tasks. Its members were responsible for initiating, tracking, and reporting on a project. They communicated the same set of project’s expectations to seniors and to other target groups.
Initially, the main concern of the project team was to organize a group of seniors -either retired or close to retirement age- in principle at local level and progressively to network them so as to constitute a European team of seniors who would be capable of offering an accumulative educational experience to children/pupils based on one or more expertise they had either as a sound hobby or as a profession, or both.

At the beginning, awareness raising activities took place in all partner countries. These included press conferences and interviews to media, briefings to local politicians, visits to senior associations and many interpersonal contacts, meetings and discussions with seniors themselves. This approach allowed the project team to get more project participants and interested supporters. Though some seniors were concerned about the future, the generational boundary and the usefulness of their skills and competences, a great part of seniors expressed an interest to be involved. 180 seniors, supported by the project team members, filled questionnaires, which were used to elaborate a comparative analysis on seniors’ characteristics and needs in training and in transferring their skills to pupils. The project team selected 60 of these seniors, the most motivated and ready to get involved in the project and to constitute the project’s core seniors group. The main criteria were focused on the skills and experience that could be challenging to be transferred to the children, their real interest to work with them and their time limit. The local seniors’ groups regularly met to discuss the essence of the project, its meaning and outcomes. They also contributed to the development of the training that received. There were used non formal and flexible training and tutoring techniques, in an effort to meet each local senior group’s needs, such as brainstorming, dialogues, presentation of information, individual work, teamwork, lecturing, presentation of results, mentoring and experiential learning. Some seniors had to do home tasks, as well.

During the second year partners and all seniors actively participated in recording/filming activities. They were shot in action, performing and presenting their competences and the merits/impact these may have to pupils/children. As a result, each partner developed a national DVD, which was collated with the rest of the other partners and was subtitled in 9 languages.
Having being trained and holding a tangible outcome –i.e. the DVD- seniors realized pilot educational sessions for pupils. Both experiences was shared in a big meeting organized in Los Palacios y Villafranca (Spain), carried out under the auspices of the mayor of the town. There, all project seniors had the opportunity to meet each other in person and to present their work and expertise, as well as to share their experiences and best practices acquired by the project to other seniors, to teachers, to local politicians, to media, to youths, youth councils and youth workers, to children and to the wider public.

Upon completion of the transnational seniors’ meeting, partners carried out information seminars addressed to teachers, in an effort to engage the educational community of their country and to motivate teachers in initiating informal educational sessions for their pupils led by the project’s seniors, based on the subject the latter are competent. In addition, all partners carried out a number of dissemination activities. They translated and sent an information note to other agencies of public, private and non governmental sector, they got in touch with media and publicized project results to the press, they contacted daily care centres for the elderly and passed the knowledge acquired to a number of seniors and social workers.

The communication with core target groups was organized by using the traditional techniques, such as face-to face contacts, team discussions and work and telephone. However, ICT (Information and Communication Technologies) were used, too, in an effort to familiarize proportionally seniors with the new communication tools. In addition, press, web, mass emailing, meetings, briefings and workshops with interested parties and other stakeholders were some of the tools/methods used to make the project and its results visible to the wider public.
All project activities had as main focus the seniors themselves. They offered the opportunity to create local partnerships as well as European ones. They created the floor for intercultural and educational interaction among seniors, between seniors and pupils, between seniors and teachers and among a number of agencies. They boosted the national and transnational sharing of knowledge and they advanced achievement long term in terms of a quantitative collective summary of outputs and a qualitative taste of life experience.
The project promoted a feeling of «belonging» to a large multicultural and multilingual European Community and enhanced further community development and further educational, social, generational and personal cohesion among all the persons involved.

The majority of project’s products and educational materials are developed in a multimedia environment, while one of them has been sensitive in promotion of basic language learning. A specific web page has been designed. All these materials are available to the users who are interested in. This allows reaching and involving a higher amount of people.


The evaluation plan was applied at two levels: internal and external. The external evaluation has been undertaken by an expert in the field and it belongs to the summative typology. The internal evaluation was mainly of the formative type. It was applied on an on-going basis among partners. The techniques used are: conceptual reports, discussions, filling in questionnaires and, where appropriate, written observations. The main aspects that were subjected to the evaluation was the degree of correspondence between project’s objectives the project’s results, the project’s approach and the project’s impact to the target groups. Assessments have been also made on the possibilities created to sustain the project’s results and achievements beyond its lifespan.

The project’s dissemination and exploitation strategy was based on the “dashing” principle. The project and its team were on the go to the target groups. The approaches applied were: creating space through concrete, group-friendly and challenging activities for seniors’ motivation, direct participation of target groups and integration to the project and its ownership, informing/involving mass media and journalists and publishing articles/press releases to media, exchange of links with other websites addressing to seniors, exploiting the possibilities of the new technologies and the electronic communication to inform a wider public, using English to project’s website to maximize the global reach, offering good services and tangible products to attract and increase the interest of the target groups and taking advance of all the partner’s potential and networking through which information can be channelled.
The above mentioned approach and the multifaceted dissemination and exploitation activities continuously and carefully carried out (publicizing the project to the press, informing a number of stakeholders at local, regional, national and European level, developing and maintaining project’s website, contacting the wider seniors’ and social workers’ communities, etc.) facilitated to maximize project’s visibility during it lifespan and have created a friendly circle of supporters and a positive atmosphere to seniors, pupils, teachers, social workers, local/regional politicians, officers and staff of various public and private agencies/organizations. Moreover, they indicate the possibilities to sustain the project outcomes beyond its lifespan.
Other factors that support project’s sustainability are the Seniors Volunteering Exchange Programme that offers an excellent opportunity to maintain the mobility and activation of the project’s seniors in the informal educational sector of all partner countries as well as the continuation of the partnership’s collaboration in realizing future similar endeavours.

3. Project Outcomes & Results

-A number of aware raising activities were carried out by the project partners in their local communities, aiming at sensitizing seniors to express their interest to participate in the project. In total, 180 seniors were involved in contact making activities initiated by the partners. They also filled in a specific questionnaire for the needs analysis survey. The results facilitated to understand and compare the educational needs of the sample and the latter’s economic, cultural and social situation. The objective to encourage the participation of seniors in societal happenings was enhanced and the impact was the increase of interest of the local communities on what is going to happen.

-A core group of 60 seniors from 6 European countries was created. Its members have a special competence which they would like to pass on to children and pupils. These competences refer to a wide spectrum of expertise: Geography, history, ecology, goblin sewing, home maintenance, fashion design, foreign language and Esperanto learning, fishing, Arabic and Breton games and riddles, gardening and horticulture, legerdemain, writing, story telling, photography, chess playing, calligraphy, visual, decorative and performing arts, macramé, puppet theatre, building electronic gadgets, toys producing, cooking, stamps collection, breeding, honey and cheese producing, mountaineering, etc. The objectives developed refer to the creation of a model that will activate the seniors to participate in learning of the others and to the initiation of synergies between partners and seniors.

-The seniors participated actively in learning environments, such as training courses, workshops and tutoring sessions. It was given training on teaching methodology for 9-12 years old pupils, workshops on how to motivate pupils to learn through games, introductory lessons on English and Spanish, self-confident exercises, initial training for understanding the main computer applications, communication and presentation techniques, designing the structure of a learning subject.
In addition, a personal development plan was developed with each senior to match his/her individual needs, to decrease possible fears and uncertainties and to prepare him/her to be capable to carry out his/her creative presentation for pilot educational sessions that will follow. The objectives of developing the teaching competences of seniors and of organizing learning environments for them were developed.

-A number of tangible products were elaborated, such as the needs analysis mentioned above, a project’s link on the Internet, a language learning tool containing 100 words in 8 EU languages and two technical materials, one on video production and the other on DVD specifications. The project objective to create and develop a variety of outputs and products was developed.

-A number of publicizing actions were undertaken, resulting to the promotion of the project through media/press and web to the wider public.

-In addition, two partners meetings were carried out, that offered the opportunity to project’s partners to develop their know-how in the undertaking and the management of transnational partnerships and to exchange, share and acquire new/updated experiences and best practices in cross-cultural education, dialogue and co-operation.

During the project’s second year, the main results were:

-A number of tangible outcomes have been produced. Some of them completed and further developed those prepared in the first year. They can be found on project’s site, which was constantly being updated. These are: a DVD, depicting the profiles of the project senior core group, their competence on a specific subject and the reasons that motivate them to become an informal teacher and to instruct pupils on a specific subject. The DVD has been subtitled in 9 languages. The rest products concern a working document on designing and planning training for seniors, an information note that synthesizes project concept and outcomes and explains its outlook and the translated versions of the latter in all partners’ languages. The project objective to create and develop a variety of outputs and products was further developed and achieved.

-A number of educational initiatives have been carried out in partner countries. These concern mainly: several educational sessions for the pupils, which were led by the project seniors in various learning environments (i.e. libraries, foreign language centres, premises of associations and NGOs, youth centres, etc.) as well as into school classes; a number of information seminars for teachers, where the project partners presented the project and the seniors presented themselves and their competences in an effort to motivate the teachers to include informal learning sessions at school led by the project seniors on a specific subject; a number of information meetings with other elderly, social workers and local politicians, where project outcomes, best practices and EU policies on ageing were promoted in an effort to sensitize and engage more seniors to participate into socio-educational life of their communities.
The above facilitated from one hand the personal and professional development of the project seniors and from the other the enhancement of social cohesion, the development of multi-level interaction and the enrichment of formal education with informal subject-learning possibilities.
The objectives a) to develop the teaching competences of seniors and to make them informal teachers on a specific subject for children/pupils aged 9-12 years old; b) to organize informal learning environments for seniors, teachers and pupils and to help all three social and age groups to participate in these and to interact and c) to create a framework for networking and to develop synergies among partners, among partners and seniors and among partners, seniors and teachers were achieved.

-A big transnational meeting has been carried out in Los Palacios y Villafranca (Spain), where all project seniors had the opportunity to meet each other, to participate in working groups, to report back in plenary, to contact pupils, teachers, youths, other fellow-seniors, local/regional politicians, journalists, numerous people from the wider public and to spread, share and acquire information, knowledge, lessons, methods, practices and experiences. Today, they have their honorary corner at the “Parque de los Hermanamientos” which was kindly offered by the Mayor of the hosting town.
The objectives of developing a solid network, of initiating synergies, of valorizing the project achievements and of enhancing intercultural dialogue have been achieved.

-A number of valorization and publicizing actions (briefings, meetings, seminars, mass emailing, press & web publications, broadcasts, etc.) were undertaken at different levels, different times and different recipients, which resulted in making project’s results sustainable, beneficial and visible to the direct and indirect target groups and to the wider public. The relevant objectives concerning dissemination and exploitation of the entire endeavour were fulfilled and the efforts will continue.

-At the end of the second year project partners had the opportunity to meet for a third time and to evaluate all project’s facets. They also put the foundations of future collaboration in the educational and socio-cultural field.

4. Partnerships

In addition, the collaboration among the project partners having the said geographical combination consolidated the European convergence and helped its citizens’ integration and cohesion.

Besides, a number of other supportive local partnerships established outside of the direct project partners, such as the University of Third Age, the Local Pensioner Society, the Stajerska Chamber of Commerce and the Centre of Support of Youth in Slovenia, the Association of Retired People of Brest, the Médiathèque Jo Fourn, the Brest City Hall, the Ecole Publique de Guipavas, the Animation Centre of Pontanézen, the Association Contrechamp, the College Diwan de Carthaix in France, the Hogar del Pensionista, the municipal youth council of Los Palacios y Villafranca in Spain, the Traditional and Archaeological Association, the Academy of Research of Traditional Dances, the Commercial Association, the Public chorus of Elassona, the Cultural Association of Drimos, municipal structures and centres for elderly of Lamia, Xanthi, Komotini, Roditis, Karditsa in Ellas, the Senior Club, the County Youth Department of Drobeta Turnu Severin, the Filanthopia Association, the “For our Seniors” network and young volunteers in Romania, the 138th School of Sofia, the daily care centres of Sofia, Simitly, Blagoevgard, Pirdop and Bankya, the Children centre “Horizons”, the Tulip foundation, moderators from Ludi Mladi website in Bulgaria and the Europe Direct Relay in Latvia. This informal and silent partnership, together with the project’s core-team of seniors, their families and friends, the pupils and the schoolteachers and in close collaboration with the media and press constituted the project’s friendly ring which facilitated its performance and contributes to its further visibility and sustainability in the future.

5. Plans for the Future

Project partners are prepared to sustain the project and they have taken relevant measures. They plan to support further the seniors that would like to continue their educational sessions with the children; they will continue looking for opportunities for the project’s senior core group to implement educational sessions in schools and/or in other settings and to disseminate project products; they will try to attract new seniors through contacts with elderly centres. They will also disseminate further the project during educational events and through promotional materials of the organizations and participation in networks.

Furthermore, partners have already discussed to initiate senior volunteering exchanges in the framework of Lifelong Learning Programme-Action Grundtvig during the forthcoming years and they have already drafted the content of the relevant projects.

6. Contribution to EU policies

The Seniors in Action project has given sufficient thought on how to contribute actively to specific priorities of Lifelong Learning Programme and to the implementation of specific EU policies.
Its contribution towards meeting a number of 2007 LLP priorities could be summarized in the fields of:
-responding to the educational challenge of an ageing population in Europe;
-increasing the participation in lifelong learning of elder people-especially those with low educational and socio-economic background;
-assisting older people in marginal social contexts to give them alternative opportunities to access educational environments.
-identifying and realising effective models on how retired people remain active as educators and trainers of pupils, and thus, to make use of their potential to the learning of others;
-identifying, collecting, transferring and sharing good practice, knowledge, methods and developing strategies where retired people remain active as educators and trainers;
-Equipping senior citizens with tools and providing them with skills, in order to cope with change, to grow their entrepreneurial spirit and to keep in employment;

The project has contributed also to the implementation of the European Framework on Key Competences, mainly in the domains of communication in foreign languages, digital competence, interpersonal, intercultural and social competences, civic competences, entrepreneurship and cultural expression.

The project boosted the creativity of seniors and involved them in innovative actions for both social and economic reasons, covering respectively sides of the European Year of Creativity and Innovation (2009).

Referring to the language learning and respect of linguistic diversity the project supported the Commission’s subsidiary initiatives by producing outputs in all partners’ languages and by initial language learning of senior participants.

Dealing with the need to valorise community projects’ outcomes, the project undertook concrete measures to facilitate exploitation and circulation of results and to make visible the efforts, initiatives, programmes and policies of the EU for the prosperity of its citizens, especially the marginalised and disadvantaged ones.

Equality between women and men is one of the fundamental principles of Community law. The project ensured equal opportunities and equal treatment for men and women and combated any form of discrimination on the grounds of gender.

The endeavour of the project to collaborate with a wider circle of people from older, more recent and most recent EU Member States was its significant contribution to accelerate European convergence, to enhance the EU’s social and economic cohesion and to establish stability and security to the extent it could.

Seen from another viewpoint, all the above points intersect and unify a global effort that the project strived to achieve. That was to transfer to the target groups and to the other beneficiaries the philosophy and the benefits of learning and lifelong learning and to enlarge the ideology governing them. Enlarging the ideology means enlarging the on-going endeavor to acquire the knowledge, with which a person knows him/herself, is aware of his/her environment, takes stands, develops his/her skills and abilities and becomes an active citizen with an intellectual performance. One such person has a decisive role and is able to judge and act so as to contribute to the development and the protection of the social, economic, intellectual and cultural stability of both his/her country and Europe as a whole.

Photo Documentation

Misc 51 photos	Meeting in Los Palacios (ES) 34 photos	Seniors & Pupils 38 photos
Dissemination Meetings with Elderly 23 photos	Evaluation Meeting in Sofia (BG) 11 photos

Scrapbook

Youtube video

The video clip of the project is available at youtube. Feel free to embed it to your website.

Products

Type/ Thumb		Description
		hi-resolution logo GIF 67.5 KB
		SIA Need Analysis PDF 213 KB
		Seniors situation in... Bulgaria DOC 38 KB France DOC 95 KB Latvia DOC 138 KB       Romania DOC 29 KB Slovenia DOC 71 KB Greece DOC 268 KB
		Certificate JPEG 92 KB
		Word list + audio   Opens in a new window