IntergenerACTION

Aims & objectives

METHODOLOGY: A creative and interactive 5-day residential training approach to explore and develop new community-based intergenerational activities.
OBJECTIVES:
• To explore ageism and identify and challenge the prejudices and stereotypes about age.
• To raise awareness and understanding about the nature of ‘intergenerational work’ and how it fits together with the concept of lifelong learning
• To generate some new ideas of how and what youth workers in community contexts can do at local and European levels to develop current intergenerational practice
• To provide foundations to enable participants to: network, develop and share intergenerational work “best practice” and promote and implement intergenerational work in their own communities within the context of the Youth in Action program.
OUTCOME: 2012 has been designated as European Year of Active Ageing and Intergenerational Solidarity. This training course has been developed to explore the ways in which youth workers can be involved in intergenerational work for 2012 with the Youth in Action program.
In today’s society and in local communities, young people have limited interaction with “older people” (i.e. above retirement age). Many fixed stereotypes are held regarding “older people” and “young people”. This can result in discrimination and isolation. Intergenerational work provides an opportunity for young people to engage with older people and for older people to engage with young people for the mutual exchange of knowledge, skills and support.

Target group & international/intercultural composition of the group & team

TARGET PARTICIPANTS:
26 youth workers from 6 different countries interested in developing action projects on intergenerational work.

COUNTRIES INVOLVED: Belgium, Czech Republic, Ireland, Switzerland, Holland & Sweden.

TRAINERS TEAM: Viv Sadd (Ireland), Marc Weiss (Switzerland), Noemie Cheval (Belgium), Barbora Blahova (Czech Republic)
The trainers team got together during the Training of trainers (ToT) for European Youth in Action Projects in 2010/2011

Training methods used & main activities

METHODS USED: small group work, debates, role plays, simulation games, example of good practise projects, energizers, project development in small international groups...

Outcomes of the activity

Participants of the training gave very positive feedback already at the end of TC, then again in the evaluation questionnaires and in their Youthpasses.
There are examples of successful projects in Ireland, Holland and Sweden.

Your tasks and responsibilities within the team

MY ROLE: trainer
Together with 3 colleagues from ToT mentioned above we developed the concept of the training (new topic), put together 4.3 application and created and run all sessions
Funding was secured as a 4.3 measure through the Leargas the Irish National Agency, under the European ‘Youth in Action’ programme.

I worked on this training for 5 days as a full time trainer.