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AGE Platform Europe – the voice of older persons at EU level

AGE Platform Europe is a European network of non-profit organisations of and for people aged 50+, which aims to voice and promote the interests of the 200 million citizens aged 50+ in the European Union (Eurostat, 2018) and to raise awareness on the issues that concern them most.

AGE’s vision encompasses an inclusive society, based on well-being for all, solidarity between generations and full entitlement to enjoy life, participate in and contribute to society. At the same time, each person’s rights and responsibilities throughout their life course have to be fully respected.

The network’s work focus on a wide range of policy areas that impact on older and retired people. These include issues of anti-discrimination, employment of older workers and active ageing, social protection, pension reforms, social inclusion, health, elder abuse, intergenerational solidarity, research, accessibility of public transport and of the build environment, and digital technologies (ICT).

The network members seek to give a voice to older and retired people in the EU policy debates, through the active participation of their representative organisations at EU, national, regional and local levels, and provides a European platform for the exchange of experience and best practices. They furthermore inform older people on their rights as EU citizen or resident and on EU policy making processes and recent EU policy development.

Through the involvement in several EU projects, the network members also seek to promote older people’s participation in the development of projects and devices intended for them (‘user involvement’).

Source: https://www.age-platform.eu

Access date: 01.03.2022

Educational Senior Network (EduSenNet)

„EduSenNet“ is a Erasmus+ Programme project which focused on the learning possibilities of the elderly over 50 on the chosen UTAs and countries with the aim to realise pedagogical research with the outcomes about formal, non-formal and informal learning of the elderly. The partners focused on learning possibilities of UTAs, evaluated them and described links with formal education at the universities.

The main goals of the project supported fulfilment of the learning needs and their development in their own environment. Project topic showed, that learning of the elderly is very important not only for the individuals but for whole society throughout Europe.

Main results:

  • Review Table presenting the learning possibilities revealed in the study
  • Research on learning conditions, methods and learning needs, comparison of results about motivation and barriers of the elderly participants in adult learning programs
  • Curriculum innovation within the study programmes
  • Recommendations for further development of non-formal and informal learning with promotion of the interests of new learners.

The project results have been summarised and documented in the project booklet “Education for seniors in Europe” and brochure “Educational Senior Network”, as well as on the project website.
The project partnership consisted of 7 partners from 6 European countries (Czech republic, the Netherlands, Germany, Slovakia, Sweden and Spain).

Source: https://edusennet.efos-europa.eu/

Access date: 28.04.2021

Digital Angel

The project “Digitaler Engel” supports older people in using digital services – close to everyday life, personally and locally.

Booking trips online, staying in touch with the grandchildren online or converting your own home into a smart home: the mobile advice team offers help with specific questions about digitalisation. They teach older people in a practical, personal, and on-site manner how daily routines and habits can be enriched and made easier through digital applications. For this purpose, the project team travels through the rural regions of Germany with an information van.

In addition, brochures, videos, instructions, and tips are made available online to provide further information about the digital world. This material is available here: https://www.digitaler-engel.org/materialien

For senior citizens – the Digitaler Engel outreach team

Our Team goes wherever older people go in their daily lives: from the marketplace to senior citizens’ meetings. In personal conversations, digital offers are presented, concrete questions are answered, and fears are reduced.

For knowledge mediators – shaping digital participation on a sustainable basis

The project team shows opportunities to enrich and facilitate everyday life with digital services. Everyday challenges can be overcome more easily through digitalisation. Knowledge mediators are gladly supported in their local work through tailor-made offers on site.

For regional providers – guide to digital offerings.

The project supports the transfer of digital skills by networking of local actors. Together with partners from the region, the project facilitates the dissemination of their existing offers for older people.

Source: https://www.digitaler-engel.org

Access date: 12.05.2022

Digital Coalition

The Digital Coalition builds on the original idea of the European Commission, first presented to the world in 2013 as the Grand Coalition for Digital Jobs. In Slovakia, this initiative was taken up by the IT Association of Slovakia together with our Ministry of Investment, Regional Development and Informatization of the Slovak Republic and on 27 September 2017, the National Coalition for Digital Skills and Jobs – Digital Coalition initiative was born.

Its goal is to mobilize despite the spectrum of public, private, academic and civil society organizations and institutions in Slovakia for the improvement of digital skills of citizens, IT specialists, all employees and in education. Members join the Digital Coalition voluntarily and free of charge with their own commitments to manage the digital transformation of society. At the same time, each member undertakes to contribute to the promotion of the topic of digital transformation in their area of operation, within their respective capabilities, and to assist in the development of a study on the impact and preparedness for digital transformation. Currently, the Digital Coalition has 83 members who have collectively declared 232 commitments.

Source: https://digitalnakoalicia.sk/

Access date: 04.11.2021

Silver

The main objective of the SILVER project is to create and implement a distance training which would help to improve skills and employability of people over 50 years old. Project´s mission is to support the discussion with all the relevant stakeholders (employers, training institutions, career advisors), to identify the constraints of seniors in access to qualification and employment and expand the lifelong learning and “silver economy” concepts in companies and training organizations.

The primary objective of the project is to improve qualifications and competences of 50+ people by creating and implementing an innovative training. To create a training which will match the requirements of this target group, they conducted a research and discussed it with relevant stakeholders and seniors.
The training should help people over 50 years old to become more confident when looking for a job or when trying to (re)integrate on the labour market.

Source: https://silver-skills.eu

Access date: 04.12.2020

EFOS

EFOS was founded in 1990 at Bressanone (Italy) by Mr. Leopold Auinger from Innsbruck (Austria) with its Headquarters at Brussels and its General Office in Austria. The aim of EFOS is the protection of the interests of older students in universities in Europe. Since its foundation EFOS has had international meetings twice a year in various European countries. EFOS is in contact with the UN in Vienna (a representative of EFOS is a member of the “Committee on Ageing”) and with AIUTA (International Association of the Universities of the Third Age).

Aims of EFOS:

– Promoting high level education of older people alongside younger students or at special academies/universities for older people

– Fostering of joint projects for older students throughout Europe

– Fostering and securing the access of older people, including those without formal qualifications, to education at the highest level

– Representing the interests of academic education for older people in politics and society

– Fostering of autonomous national organizations with similar goals

– Identifying possibilities of using the skills and expertise of older students for the benefit of science and society

– Cooperating with other international organizations that support lifelong learning (LLL).

Members:  Institutions and individual senior students in the following countries: Austria, Czech Republic, France, Germany, Great Britain, Hungary, Netherlands, Poland, Slovakia, Spain and Sweden, Switzerland. At this moment (2020) EFOS has 19 institutional and 19 individual members.

Source: https://www.efos-europa.eu/

Access date: 04.12.2020

Association of Universities of the Third Age in Slovakia

The Association of Universities of the Third Age (ASUTV) of Slovakia was established as an initiative of Slovak universities and other institution of high education at a founding conference held at the Košice Technical University on 1st December 1994. Representatives of individual Slovak UTAs meet regularly, exchange information and consult organizational, financing and educational – methodical matters involving UTAs. Common professional sittings indicate the presence of rich activities of UTAs in the whole country. Today, apart from UTA at Comenius University and the Slovak Technical University in Bratislava. UTAs exist in Nitra, Martin, Banská Bystrica, Zvolen, Košice, Trenčín, Trnava, Žilina, Liptovský Mikuláš, Prešov, Dubnica nad Váhom and Ružomberok.

ASUTV is a member of the International Association of Universities of the Third Age (AIUTA), which has the seat at University in Toulouse: www.aiu3a.com

The UTAs offer a three-year program. The study system of the UTAs is adjusted both to the capabilities of the aged and to the possibilities of their main universities. The study plan of each year usually provides 14 three-hour lectures to be presented each fortnight. During their first year, the students are offered basic lectures in each of the offered discipline. The second and third year is devoted to the study of optional disciplines and students enrol in the study of specialised branches.

Source: https://asutv.sk/

Access date: 11.09.2020

HoCare

Innovative solutions for Home Care by strengthening quadruple-helix cooperation in regional innovation chains. Ageing of the population is challenge for all EU regions. But it means at the same time also  an opportunity for growh and jobs as there is created great potentila to dleiver innovative solution for home care. Objective of HoCare project is to boost delivery of home careinnovative solutions by strengthening of cooperation of actors in regional innovation system using Qudruple-helix approach, which is an innovation cooperation model where users, business, research actors/universities and public authorities cooperate in order to produce innovation. Government, industry, academia and civil participants work together to co-create structural changes far beyond the scope of what any organization or person could do alone.

Link to the video – thematic workshop Slovenia: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5B8VKXRMNFI&t=5s

Source: Interreg Europe HoCare Project

Access date: 14.10.2021

EkoSMART – Smart Integrated Healthcare and Longterm Care System

EkoSMART (Smart Integrated Healthcare and Longterm Care System) is a large research project in Slovenija. One of its field of research (smart integrated healthcare and longterm care system) aims to enable elderly population, people with chronic diseases, dementia or other health conditions, longer, more active and safer conditions to remain living independent in their own homes, resulted in a social care service based on IoT (Internet of Things) and person-centered technologies, available 24 hours a day. The technology supporting the service detects a need for intervention if a user is due to falling or other difficult health condition not able to make an urgent call.

EkoSMART is developing approaches and prototypes to ensure the basic conditions for effective transformation to integrated healthcare and home care system. It provides: integration of different levels of healthcare, effective and secure exchange of information among different stakeholders of the healthcare system on the national level (national registers, accounting system, big data analysis) and basic conditions for development and sustainability of the healthcare and social system.

The main goals are:

  • development of a model of integrated healthcare provision and the establishment of related infrastructure,
  • development of a systemic foundations for extending the model of integrated healthcare provision,
  • raise the quality of life and safety of chronic patients and extended care,
  • safe use of medicines and reduced number of referrals to clinical pharmacologists.

Source: Telekom Slovenia https://www.telekom.si/zasebni-uporabniki/ponudba/e-oskrba

Access date: 12.12.2021

DIGITAL INCLUSION FOR SENIORS

Slovenian Third Age University (National Association for Education and Social Inclusion)

is currently a nation wide set network of 52 universities in 52 localities with about 21.000 students, more than 1.000 mentors and 1.000 volunteers.

Since 1984 when it was established it has been catering for the needs of older people in the field of informatics and new technologies. In 1986 mentors of Slovenian Third Age University developed a programme for low -literate employees complete beginners to learn both English and computer skills needed for the programme WordStar. It was accompanied by a film with mimes illustrating basic computer skills and was a breakthrough in ICT education. In Ljubljana there are currently more than 620 students enrolled in computer classes right now. There are programmes catering for students needs at different levels and developing overall computers skills.

Source:  The Slovenian Universitxy of Third Age

Access date: 30.09.2021