The issues of ageing and dialogue between generations are often treated as problems: because of that our new project path focused on intergenerational solidarity. On January 21st the first meeting was held to launch the first activities of BEST FRIENDS against Ageism, a European project coordinated by Point Europa Ltd of the UK in partnership with CSC Danilo Dolci and other European organisations from Austria, Latvia, Greece, France.
It is motivating for us to face the theme of the demographic change that is affecting Europe due to the ageing of its population and, as it is well known, Italy has a famous record in this.
The project objectives address the important challenge of bringing generations together with the intention of changing the vision from a problem to an opportunity, providing innovative methods for the knowledge and dissemination of intergenerational dialogue. The beneficiaries of this action are those who take care of elderly people such as carer/social worker, educators and volunteers helping the elderly, enriching the educational practice by bringing children and the over 65s together. The mission is to break their isolation through social participation and inclusion in our communities, to improve their physical and mental health through interaction with children and to enrich their learning processes through their interaction.
It is our interest to offer updates on the BEST FRIENDS against Ageism project and its contribution to policies dealing with intergenerational dialogue and strengthening social inclusion. Moreover we finally approach Ageism: prejudice and discrimination affecting older people, a recently reactivated phenomenon. BEST FRIENDS will test the approach of current policies to the ageing, which is different in each society and culture, building a potential common European process on solidarity intervention, which can provide ideas for further initiatives to intervene in different contexts.
Our Facebook page and the dedicated website are continuously updated to offer visibility on the state of the art of the project activities, and where it will be possible to get results and educational resources which will be made available to professionals.
BEST FRIENDS against Ageism is cofinaced by Erasmus+ programme – Erasmus + – KA2: Cooperation for innovation and the exchange of good practices – Strategic Partnerships for adult education.
For further information
Contact Marta Galvano, marta.galvano@danilodolci.org