The deadline for applications for participation is the 16th of August. The costs of participation for the successful candidates will be covered by the Grundtivg Program of the European Commission.

More information, program and application forms from here http://www.europeanmemories.eu/Activities/Current-activities/Living-Memory-in-Europe
or from Andrea Ciantar at:
andrea.ciantar@gmail.com

The new media, especially the Internet, enable the application of innovative and interactive methods for communication, cooperation and information on virtual basis. The main goal of this Grundtvig Workshop organised by the Institute for virtual and real learning in the area of adult education at the University of Ulm (ILEU) was to show that Internet is a very important tool for European cooperation in seniors’ education.

The 15 participants of this workshop that involved 5 full days of training were professionals as well as older learners (multipliers) from universities of the 3rd age or organisations wishing to provide seniors’ education in the future. The most of the participants came from the new EU countries, especially in the Danube Region – Slovakia, Bulgaria, Romania, Lituania, Hungary, Czech Republic, Slovenia and also Germany. In many of these countries, Internet use by people 50+ is still in its beginnings, nor is it widely used in the participants’ organisations in the context of seniors’ education.

The focus was on the methodology for the use of the new media in seniors’ education, on practicing tools for web-based interaction and communication, on good practice examples of Internet training and application in a local and European context, with special focus on Grundtvig Learning Partnerships, SVP and similar projects. Introduction was given to project planning, financing and applications.

In the closing sessions, the participants in small groups of persons from different countries have created concepts for cooperation projects for older adults (50+) and presented them in the plenum.

The workshops’ activities gave rise to a constructive exchange of experience and ideas for future projects and activities in participants’ own organisations. Furthermore, basis was laid for networking activities on European level.

Public consultation of the European Commission on the European Union Strategy for the Danube Region

Statement: “Lifelong learning programmes for older adults as a societal necessity in the Danube Region”

Here you will find the complete Statement as PDF

The population in the Danube region is rapidly ageing

The countries covered by the EU Danube Strategy face an enormous demographic change. According to the newest Eurostat estimations (1/2010), 23.3 % of the population in the Danube region will be aged 65 and over in 2030 – considering that this rate is 16.5% in 2010, the next twenty years will bring an increase of 6.6%.

All Danube countries will be concerned by this development, their ageing rate even exceeding that of the EU-27 (average increase of 5.8 %). Many Danube regions are additionally touched by migration of the working population, aggravating the age shift.

These changes imply major effects on societies, with consequences for the social, welfare and economic life as well as education and culture.

Older adults are valuable human capital

Considering this transformation process, it is surprising that the importance of older adults for all of society is often not considered enough. Seniors will make up almost a fourth of the population in twenty years – it is time to regard them as a valuable constituent of society and to foster their competences.

Older adults (55+) can no longer be regarded as a homogenous group of passive people or a burden in need of care. Rather, they are an active age group with various life styles and social milieus differing considerably between and within countries – just like any other part of the population. These heterogeneous persons possess experiences and competences that are valuable to society and to younger generations, e.g. in the fields of personal, social and professional competences. Older workers and their specific knowledge are needed in the Danube region labour markets. The active participation and social inclusion of this group of the population fosters civil society and is absolutely necessary for the prosperity of society as a whole.

In this context, lifelong learning is a necessity, not a luxury

To fully utilize the potential of older adults, they must have access to lifelong learning offers. As of today, seniors are alarmingly neglected when it comes to educational offers. This neglect is even apparent in the papers submitted in the context of the Danube Strategy: where education is mentioned as a priority, students and scientists are named as the target group. When issues caused by the ageing of society are mentioned, education isn’t.

But contrary to widespread stereotypes, mental skills do not necessarily diminish in later life. Older adults just need to be stimulated by learning activities. Furthermore, brain research results show that learning improves seniors’ health and is thus an important asset in health prevention.

Ageing societies like those in the Danube region simply cannot afford to waste the enormous potential of older adults. Lifelong learning is the key to assuring that the competences and productivity of older adults aren’t lost to society. It is imperative to provide this growing share of population with learning offers that are specially developed for them. Structures such as the Universities of the Third Age must be fostered and developed. Formal learning opportunities must be combined with informal and non-formal learning environments, e.g. in self-organized groups and post-employment activities. The importance of learning outside of formal structures is growing and should be acknowledged in educational policies and funding.

Lifelong learning as a bridge between science and society

In ageing societies, universities can no longer concentrate only on their traditional clientele. Offering opportunities for lifelong learning to adults age 55 and over should become a new priority. University-based lifelong learning has the task of informing people on the basis of scientific facts. It should raise the awareness for the impact that social and institutional reforms have on everybody in the Danube region. Besides being a societal necessity, such offers directly benefit universities: they create a link between science and society that improves the dissemination of scientific results and the reputation of the university as an institution. By co-operating with NGOs, the positive societal effects can be increased even further.

Structures of university-based lifelong learning already exist in numerous Danube countries, although they differ a great deal. These structures should be fostered and expanded or, where necessary, created. University-based (and other) lifelong learning offers shouldn’t only address people with formal educational degrees, but rather all persons wishing to improve their education and wanting to participate actively in the learning process. Seniors can further contribute to intergenerational learning by bringing in their own know-how and experiences and transferring their knowledge to younger generations.

ICT offer great opportunities for learning and social participation

Information and communication technologies (ICT) can be an attractive way of learning together with others and of offering university-based lifelong learning outside of universities. ICT are becoming increasingly important in everyday life, be it at work or in private life. But in the domain of their use, there is a large gap between generations: all throughout the Danube region, older people use Internet considerably less than the average of their country. But nowadays, the competence of using Internet in a productive way is a key qualification.

That is why ICT are a necessary part of lifelong learning: they enable older adults to participate actively in society and to take part in e-learning activities. E-learning has the advantages of accessibility for persons in rural areas and for the physically impaired. It also offers the possibility of blending formal and non-formal learning by offering courses while fostering interactivity, communication and the creation of knowledge-based and social communities.

Familiarizing older adults with Internet use in learning activities is an important step towards fostering their preparedness for political and social cooperation and participation. It enables them to make full use their potential.

Ways of fostering lifelong learning for older adults in the Danube region

By creating a link between universities and society as well as using ICT in lifelong learning, the creation of a democratic knowledge-based civil society will be promoted. An idea to reach such a linkage is the creation of network between universities and NGOs to foster the exchange of good practices in seniors’ education. This has already been tried on a small scale in the project “Danube-Networkers” (cf. the project description submitted with this paper), which was a pilot project bringing together university-based lifelong learning, ICT use and cross-border cooperation. As it has shown, the opportunities of ICT facilitate transnational cooperation and increase the benefits to be drawn from it, e.g. by enabling the involvement of inhabitants of rural areas.

Generally, the EU should acknowledge the growing significance of lifelong learning for older adults by giving political priority to their social inclusion. The Declaration of the Danube Summit in Budapest in March 2010 attributes some general importance to civil society actors in a variety of fields. This is a step into the right direction of strengthening the civil society in the Danube Region. But political will should be moved even more towards lifelong learning and the inclusion of older adults. That is what this paper aims at. For the empowerment of this large part of the population and the prosperous development of the Danube region, the issues described above are absolutely crucial.

Ulm, 29/03/2010

Contact

Ulm University, Centre for General Scientific Continuing Education (ZAWiW)

Acad. Dir. Carmen Stadelhofer

Albert-Einstein-Allee 47

89081 Ulm, Germany

Tel:  +49 731 50-23193

Fax: +49 731 50-23197

info@zawiw.de

Beteiligte Organisationen

The following organisations and individuals have expressed in written form their support of this Statement, other support letters will follow.

Here you will find a complete list as PDF

Europe – what do we have in common? What is different? Telling the life-stories of people is a way to explore and make known the different cultures which make up Europe, a contribution to a possible Europe. Moreover the stories can contribute to the knowledge of the values and representations which are the basis for building a sense of European identity. The storytelling method represents a bottom-up process, for building knowledge closer to the real experiences of European citizens.

Project coordination: UPTER Italy

Funded by: The Education, Audiovisual and Culture Executive Agency (EACEA)

Websites: www.europa-erleben.net, www.possible-europe.eu

For further information contact Bàrbara Ordinas at barbara.ordinas@uib.es or visit web page www.uib.es/uom.

A film report by the Wien TV from the meeting of the partners of the Grundtvig Learning Partnership Danube-Networkers in Vienna.

(The dialogue is in German)

to Video Danube-Networkers in Vienna

For this issue we have also gathered information about good practice projects, education activities and news items in this area.

Everything started with a pamphlet that I had taken with me rather thoughtlessly, perhaps out of an unconscious wanderlust. Thousands of them are held in stock every year at travelling agencies. A little later I detected a special offer – a journey to my old home that I was forced to leave three decades ago.During my childhood, I lived in the former Free State of Gdańsk, which now belongs to Poland. More than three centuries, my ancestors possessed agricultural land in the Vistula lowlands. World War II took it from them and finally, they were forced to leave it.

On September 1^st 1939, I witnessed the war’s outbreak. More than the fighting at the front that I watched from the distance, did my parents’ consternation – they had already experienced another war – leave an imprint on me. I was even more preoccupied with another change: The Free State of Gdańsk became a part of Germany again, and I, fifteen year old, suddenly became a German citizen. Instead of the Gdańsk Gulden, the Reichsmark became our new currency. At first, there was not notable change for me personally, but the war demanded more and more victims.

After World War II raged more than five years in our neighbour countries and at its end, it returned to is starting point for us: In March 1945, Gdańsk was conquered by soviet troops which meant farewell for me – from my parents, my home and from Germany. Together with thousands of refugees and the wounded, I reached Denmark by ship. After the capitulation, all German refugees in Denmark were kept in fenced internment camps until there was a chance for departure. Those were dependent on the entry clearances given by the occupying allied forces in Germany. After two and a half years of internment, I was granted a clearance for the soviet zone and was free – but for the time being without a home.

Years went by and, with solid ideas for the future, I travelled from East- to West-Germany. I reached my goals, found a new home and my aspired profession.

This was my personal situation when I went on the journey back to my old home. It was no easy journey since the past went with me, always present as well as the pain of loss, the feelings of guilt for those people who had to suffer so much from the times of war.

How would the Polish treat us in our old home? Would we be confronted with rejection, maybe even accusations or hatred?

We reached the polish holiday resort UNIMOR, close to the Baltic Sea and the Gdańsk Bay and had been built by a polish firm for their employees. The German travel oganisation “Hummel” had booked 30 books for German tourists (today also called „nostalgia-tourists”). The next week we spent there together with Polish families in simple accommodation with joint meals and events.

Until then, I had not had personal contact with our Polish neighbours. As a child, they were first adversarial neighbours for me, then wartime enemies, finally the defeated. Only later was I confronted with feelings of injustice and guilt towards our neighbours. When encountering the Polish guests, I could not suppress those feelings anymore.

The hospitality of the Polish is famous around the world, but the hearty welcome of the Polish families exceeded all my expectations. In the evening, events were organised and we, the German guests, were always invited and welcomed with a fanfare.

In the following days, my world view was trembling – nothing seemed to fit anymore. Two nations, living next to each other for centuries; arguments, fights and wars have taken place. At the beginning of the World War II were only attackers and defeated. After years, the luck changed in favour of the formerly defeated. But what had happened during the last 30 years? Who was the freed now, who was the winner? The answer was clear.

In the following days, we visited Gdańsk, the city that had once been so familiar to me and that had been destroyed almost completely. It had risen from the ashes with the help of Polish workers, craftsmen and artists. A lot of groundwork has been done there! When walking through the well-known streets, I noticed many vivid young people who were passing their time on the benches and the squares, reading, making music or cheerfully chatting. This was the new generation of young Polish, who had been growing up in Gdańsk. Gdańsk ist their home now, just as it was ours, before we had to leave it.

And here I became conscious of the fact that Gdańsk had become a new city. A new era, a new youth, a new generation had taken possession of the place of my childhood and had filled it with their life. And just like me, they were born and raised here. Gdańsk is their home, now part of Poland and not Germany anymore. It is theirs now and nobody should dispute it to them.

A contribution from the project Possible Europe.  To this and other stories in the German website “Europa Erleben”.

Soča Fidler, Ljubljana, Slovenia

This is our first letter to you and we hope to receive a word from you, too.

We are a group of Slovene ladies who are fond of English and enjoy travelling very much. Since our pensions are not too high, we prefer to stay within your big garden in case we need your help.

This is not a complaint though, more a compliment really. Since our childhood we have studied your past and present life. We must admit that you are an interesting old lady. Still very beautiful and fascinating, especially because you embrace a variety of cultures and languages. And you are ready to receive some more, although you seem to be slowly closing your generous house to those whose status is perhaps falling short of your expectations. We hope this is just a wrong impression since that would not be very nice, would it? We are fully aware, however, that your garden is not infinite.

May we at this point also remind you of the fact that you have actually broadened your horizons by hosting the Etruscans, Celts, Romans, Lombards, Slavs, Goths, Franks,Vikings, Huns, Arabs, Roma (pardon us for not remembering all of them – we are elderly ladies after all!) in the distant past; even the Ottomans brought some nice presents, didn’t they? Having so many cousins of different origin makes us a big and a relatively happy family. Do you agree? Of course, there are sometimes family rows, as there are in every extended family. We all know that the grass is greener on the other side, but if we try to be content with what we do have, and this is not just a little something, we will be able to understand our differences better and perhaps even enjoy their advantages.

Let us give you an example: four years ago our group decided to explore a tiny patch in the southeastern part of your huge garden – Malta. We had all been looking forward to our big adventure but we were also a bit worried whether we would be able to cope with all the challenges of unknown or unpredictable nature in case we encountered some during our visit. We had prepared well for the trip and learnt quite a bit about Maltese history, geographical features of Malta, the present lifestyle of the Maltese, their two official languages (Maltese and English), the weather, and most importantly, historical sites such as the temple of Hagar Qim and the Ggantija Temples (thought to be the oldest free-standing structures in the world!).

As soon as we landed, all our concerns melted away. We were surrounded by friendly people, communication was not a problem, the weather was gorgeous, so we went ahead with our plans: we went swimming on beautiful beaches several times and took a well organised tour of the island. The Knights of Malta left an indelible impression on us – their mediaeval Valetta, the capital of Malta, is just wonderful! It is a pity though that they lost their moral compass towards the end of their rule (which lasted more than two centuries), so that they were ordered to leave Malta by Napoleon, whose soldiers, by the way, also misbehaved and plundered Maltese churches. They had to leave the island only after two years (the Knights after two centuries) as the British seemed a better choice then. Malta has been independent for 45 years now. Longer than Slovenia anyway!

We took another trip around Malta, but this time it was organised by ourselves: we hired a mini bus and had an exciting crossing to the island of Gozo, where another mini bus waited for us. We were delighted that all our day-trip arrangements held good and that we could talk to local people and explore the island on our own, which was a wonderful experience. We also found out that hashish (spelling may be wrong) in Maltese is not something dangerous as it is in English or Slovene. It simply means vegetable.

Our visit to Malta lasted only a week but our happy memories keep flooding back and we still have a good laugh whenever we talk about our first trip together.

We did realise there were some differences between us and the Maltese, but we certainly liked them and they definitely enriched us. So Ms Europe, we would like to thank you for maintaining your great garden full of different and beautiful flowerbeds, Malta and Slovenia being just two of them.

Of course there are many more. We also visited Crete, Rhodes and Tunisia (Africa is also a great beauty, so it would be wise to keep in mind there are some serious rivals out there). If you wish to hear more from us, please let us know. We would also appreciate it if you encouraged some visitors to the Slovene flowerbed to describe their experience.

We look forward to hearing from you.

Best wishes,

Your fans from Slovenia

For older adults in Europe, intercultural perception is often influenced by experiences from their childhood and youth (war, flight, banishment, forced labour, separation of families). Those who are willing to (self)-reflect, can, when asked about their experiences, distinguish between negative, ambivalent and positive experiences and events (support in situations of need, unexpected friendliness, discovery of “communities of fate”).

Furthermore, the times of war often resulted in extraordinary individual as well as collective experiences; for example, many Germans, who had lived in harmony with people of other nationalities and cultures in the former east German regions, were banned from their homes and were then, coming to West-Germany, treated as “aliens” (the Russian-Germans have later found themselves in similar situation); not seldom did this trigger a personal crisis of national and cultural identity that sensitized some of them for the migration experiences of others, for example the so called “guest workers” of the 60ies or the immigrants today.

When asked for the main reasons for the positive attitude towards foreigners and the creation of a politically united Europe, most of the older German adults name support and friendly encounters with foreigners in difficult times of their lives (flight, forced labour, resettling).

Adapting this attitude is not a matter of course for them, since they had to overcome the stereotypical enemy images and replace it with more positive ones (e.g. Franco-German antagonism turning into friendship).

Even younger German seniors experienced this forced distance created through stereotypes concerning foreigners. They still recall a “Europe of boundaries and barriers” that entailed endless routes, long and uncomfortable border controls, language barriers that were almost impossible to bridge, an invisible “iron curtain” that divided Europe into West and East with the few media channels showing ideologically coloured pictures of politics, culture and people.

However, they also remember the first holidays to foreign countries, most of them to Austria, Italy or France, the first “guest workers” from Italy, Turkey or Yugoslavia, who brought pizza, garlic and different ways of eating that are now a normal component of “German” cuisine just as “Döner – booths” on almost every street corner.

Today’s youth seemingly does not know anymore, what a difficult political and societal process it was, first in the West and then in the whole of Europe, to remove the borders between the countries of Europe (Schengen Agreement, Fall of the Berlin Wall) and which impact for example the 68-movement, the peace movement opposing nuclear rearmament or Pershing had in the Western countries and how these factors changed the worldview and united people of similar attitudes irrespective of their nationalities. For the youth today, due to global technical innovation such as the Internet, cheap flights or other technical innovations, everything is now “cool and possible”. They are facing different problems, such as job market competition or climate change. In this context, the issue of a national / a foreigner or interculturality is not a fundamental problem anymore for Europeans in a European country, but rather a problem of belonging to certain economically, educationally or socially disadvantaged social groups that are susceptible to nationalist and xenophobic ideas. This could grow into a crucial problem, if those with intercultural competences and feelings of responsibility for society do not intervene.

Europe is growing to be a political union and all European countries are – due to free decisions or economic reasons – more and more inhabited by people with a foreign background. Intercultural competences are therefore becoming core qualifications necessary for building a “European house” based on human rights and democracy, and for a peaceful solution of intercultural conflicts. Strengthening intercultural competences is therefore one of the key tasks for education of both the young and the old.

To bring together older adults from the same generation with different national, cultural and personal life courses to exchange, perhaps even share, and to record their experiences (“European memories”) und to give them the opportunity to work in joint learning projects is a great chance for both the participants as well as educational institutions and society at large.

Especially in the context of the south-east-enlargement of the EU and the growing nationalist tendencies in all countries, such cooperative projects can lead to a boundary- and culture-bridging understanding, to more tolerance and more joy in the joined work.

Older people have a model function, in their positive as well as in their negative actions. Their life stories and ability to reflect can convey to younger people an image of the overcoming of economic as well as cultural frontier-experiences. Conversations with them may support their identity quest in our increasingly globalised, intercultural world. Needed are therefore many small “intercultural” projects on-site, where intercultural life takes place every day.

Reference: Project “Stories of a Possible Europe”, www.possible-europe.eu; www.europe-erleben.net

Photo: Carmen Stadelhofer with a group of senior students of the project  Open Doors to Europe – ODE