AFE Activists Erasmus Project

Project Title

AFE Activists

Project Key Action

This project related with these key action: Cooperation for innovation and the exchange of good practices

Project Action Type

This project related with this action type : Strategic Partnerships for adult education

Project Call Year

This project’s Call Year is 2018

Project Topics

This project is related with these Project Topics: Reaching the policy level/dialogue with decision makers; New innovative curricula/educational methods/development of training courses; Civic engagement / responsible citizenship

Project Summary

The majority of elements in our cities and communities were designed and developed in a different demographic context. The unprecedented increase in the ageing population urges to explore the fitness of our built environment, social environment, community and health support, and modify those environments in a new demographic context. A promising strategy to deal with this issue is developing citizen competencies so that older adults take an active role in documenting features of their environment that create barriers or enablers for active and healthy living, and then voice them to policy and decision makers to promote change.

Age-friendly Environments (AFE) Activists project addressed the need of tailored training to adults aged 65 and over who want to promote age-friendly environments in their cities and influence municipal agencies in their decision making so that the infrastructures and services of the town or city are adapted to the diverse capacities, realities, needs and preferences of all residents of all ages.

The main objectives of this project have been to: 1) Train, empower and support older people to get active for their cities/communities/neighbourhoods, to bring forward their ideas and initiatives for age-friendly environments; 2) Develop supportive, innovative and accessible training/learning modules and materials that are relevant to others (adult education providers, trainers etc.); 3) Raise awareness of the importance of age-friendly environments for active participation and civic engagement of older citizens 4) Produce and disseminate sustainable outputs and outcomes and build strong networks for age-friendly environments and active participation of older citizens.

The objectives were achieved by: 1) Collecting, analysing and showcasing inspiring grass-roots initiatives in different domains of age-friendly environments; 2) Designing and testing a training programme by cross-border cooperation and short-term study visits; 3) Experiential and project-based learning enabling the older-age participants to initiate activities in the field of age-friendly environments; 4) A transnational learning mobility to give selected participants the opportunity to gain first-hand experience of an age-friendly environment in The Hague and Udine, members of the WHO age-friendly cities network; 5) Involving experts, public servants and different stakeholders in project activities; 6) Disseminating project results at conferences and public events.

Four outputs were delivered by the project partners:
1) A COMPENDIUM OF GOOD PRACTICES OF AGE-FRIENDLY ENVIRONMENTS (AFE) containing exemplary grass-roots initiatives from European countries in different domains of age-friendly environment. The Compendium was used as a training resource and as awareness raising tool for understanding activism and advocacy for and by older people and for gaining inspirations to plan and implement small local projects.
2) AFE ADVOCACY TRAINING PROGRAMME to be used as a training resource for organisations / institutions interested in learning on AFE issues and including AFE topics into their curricula and/or implementing AFE projects. Pilot training of Age-friendly Environment Activists was delivered by project partners in The Hague, Hanau, Kaunas, Rome and Vienna in the period from September 2019 till March 2020. The training addressed information, advice and advocacy needs of older people with the aim to support them in making choices, taking decisions, securing rights, acting in his or her own interests as well as contributing to the life of the community and being fully engaged in society. 75 older people participated in the training, approx. 75 % females and 25 % males. In addition to in-class training, the programme included study tours to age-friendly cities The Hague and Udine for the selected participants to observe the local age-friendly environment initiatives and transfer the knowledge gained to their peers.
3) AFE ADVOCACY HANDBOOK containing the synopsis of good AFE practice examples, AFE advocacy training programme, delivery methods, training tools and AFE advocacy projects implemented by AFE activists in partner countries; and
4) AFE EXPERIENCE HANDBOOK describing the educational approach of a study tour, the pathways of The Hague and Udine towards building a more inclusive society for people of all ages, the selected initiatives to be explored by the international team of AFE activists, and the tools for observation, reflection and self-assessment. The Handbook serves as an awareness raising resource for older citizens, local authorities and municipal agencies, policy makers, responsible businesses, philanthropists and innovators to understand the paradigm of ageing shifting away from older age dependence to contribution, and to encourage them to respond to the needs of ageing citizens and engage them in participatory decision making.

The target audiences of the project results are: older adults 65+ who want to remain active in the retirement phase by engaging in lifelong learning opportunities and becoming active members of the civil society, adult education providers, local community and neighborhood groups, NGOs, associations of older people, local and national government agencies.

EU Grant (Eur)

Funding of the project from EU: 147669,71 Eur

Project Coordinator

ASOCIACIJA SENJORU INICIATYVU CENTRAS & Country: LT

Project Partners

• AFEDEMY, ACADEMY ON AGE-FRIENDLY ENVIRONMENTS IN EUROPE BV
• LUNARIA ASSOCIAZIONE DI PROMOZIONE SOCIALE
• ISIS GMBH
• queraum. kultur- und sozialforschung | Giedenbacher Stadler-Vida OG