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Training opportunities for members of
senior self-help groups and voluntary initiatives
Progress Report Public Part
Project information
Project acronym: SenEmpower
Project title: SenEmpower – Empowering seniors to take part in
community life
Project number: 134184-LLP-1-2007-1-DE-GRUNDTVIG-GMP
Sub-programme or KA: GRUNDTVIG
Project website: www.senempower.eu
Reporting period: From 01.10.2007
To 31.07.2008
Report version: 1
Date of preparation: 01.08.2008
Beneficiary organisation: ISIS GbR – Institut für soziale Infrastruktur,
Frankfurt, Germany
Project coordinator: Dr. Karin Stiehr
Project coordinator organisation: ISIS GbR, Frankfurt Germany
Project coordinator telephone number: XX49-69-264865-0
Project coordinator email address: stiehr@isis-sozialforschung.de
This project has been funded with support from the European Commission.
This publication [communication] reflects the views only of the author, and the Commission
cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained
therein.
Executive Summary
Various factors accompanying the demographic change of age pyramid contribute to the
increase of risks of social exclusion for senior citizens. Civic engagement countervails this
risk and is increasingly attractive for seniors, offering opportunities for “bottom-up”
democracy, social networks and personal fulfilment. But the decision for civic engagement is
still an expression of over-average educational levels. The risk of isolation is especially high
for seniors with low formal education levels which are often also interconnected with poverty,
bad health and the lack of social skills and competences.
The project aims at developing, testing and implementing learning materials and methods for
members of seniors self-help groups and voluntary initiatives which enable them to work on
ways and methods on how to activate and empower seniors affected by isolation, e.g. by
personal mentoring. The materials are conceptualised according to a European framework
curriculum but allow for focal themes according to the local contexts of the project partners,
decided by local partnerships, involving adult educators, consultants, seniors associations
and local or regional governments.
The short and long term aims of the project are directed at various actors and stakeholders,
ranging from seniors at risk or affected by isolation and members of senior self-help groups
and voluntary initiatives to adult education bodies, advisors and government officials. Seniors
will be empowered to actively take part in community life and help others in doing so. The
learning tools and materials at six pilot locations which will be published as separate volumes
mainly directed at adult education bodies and experts to foster their transfer to other
locations in Europe. The procedures of conceptualising and implementing the measures will
be published as “Guidelines for Actions: Empowering seniors to take part in community life in
Europe“ also for other interested parties, like government officials as seniors associations.
These guidelines will provide an insight into how such training curricula may be developed in
a different local or regional setting.
A website and other awareness raising measures will spread the results Europe-wide. Each
participating country will perform a workshop for practitioners and decision-makers from the
above-mentioned realms, which will be open for participants from all European countries.
Due to the composition of the partnership, the results can be transferred to further decision-
makers by government officials, seniors associations, adult educators and scientific advisors
within their own networks and structures, e.g. by press releases, articles, conference papers
or political statements.
Table of Contents
1. PROJECT OBJECTIVES.................................................................................... 5
2. PROJECT APPROACH ...................................................................................... 7
2.1 Cooperation at national and European level ................................................. 7
2.2 Added value of the approach ........................................................................ 8
2.3 Training methodology.................................................................................... 9
2.4 Evaluation approaches................................................................................ 10
2.5 Dissemination and exploitation.................................................................... 11
3. PROJECT OUTCOMES & RESULTS............................................................... 13
3.1 European framework curriculum ................................................................. 13
3.2 Local focus themes ..................................................................................... 13
3.3 Local training modules ................................................................................ 14
4. PARTNERSHIPS .............................................................................................. 18
4.1 Communication and cooperation at local level ............................................ 18
4.2 Communication and cooperation at European level.................................... 19
5. PLANS FOR THE FUTURE .............................................................................. 20
6. CONTRIBUTION TO EU POLICIES ................................................................. 21
7. MEMBERS OF THE SENEMPOWER PROJECT ............................................. 22
1. Project Objectives
The situation of seniors endangered of or affected by social exclusion and tools of how to
empower them are not a priority theme neither within public discussions nor in the member
states of the European Union. In contrast, more attention is paid and resources are directed
to these issues in Canada and the United States. Even though the need for qualifying senior
volunteers, i.e. members of seniors self-help groups and initiatives, is recognizable, courses
and trainings on how to empower seniors with weak family and social networks and to
encourage them to take part in community life are not available yet. At European level, the
need to support both, seniors affected or endangered by risks of isolation and seniors
working in self-help groups and initiatives has been put forward by the European project
“Isolation to Inclusion” in which Local and Regional Action Plans for the re-integration of
isolated old people into community life were set up.1 These plans have acknowledged the
specific importance of civic engagement in creating solutions for seniors threatened or
concerned by social isolation and highlighted the importance of new and innovative
qualification measures for volunteers and self-help groups to cope with these problems more
effectively than before.
Similar to other stakeholders, seniors engaged in civic activities need to be provided with
appropriate framework conditions which acknowledge the indispensable value of their self-
help and voluntary activities. This includes the respect for existing skills and competences of
the volunteers as well as qualification offers which increase their range of activities, the
success of their work and their work satisfaction. Thus, the SenEmpower project aims at
offering training courses to members of seniors’ self-help group and voluntary work initiatives
to improve their know-how on addressing and empowering seniors with weak family and
social networks to actively participate in society.
Furthermore, the SenEmpower project aims at communicating that the heart of every
European civil society, democracy, is not limited to a representative system but includes all
organisations of the civil society, such as grassroots groups, civil movements, interest
groups, advisory boards etc.. They are likewise addressed to define and tackle the problems
of their communities and to improve the quality of life of each single member of civil society.
The SenEmpower project was developed to cope with two societal developments which have
a crucial impact on civil society and the participation of seniors in it:
1
See http://www.i2i-project.net/rap.php
• First of all, the senior population is increasing in all European countries and will exceed
50% of the population in some of them within next 15 years. Moreover, a growing number
of seniors are ready to work in self-help groups and initiatives on issues of public welfare
and public health. Their contribution to social welfare is tremendous, but needs to be
acknowledged and supported by educational opportunities and cooperation at community
level. Their locally based work usually is not integrated into networks, providing the
transfer of knowledge and good practice.
• But then again, the number of seniors who need support in becoming an active member
of civil society, i.e. of the local community, is increasing as well. Especially single old
women are at a high risk of social isolation, but the same is true for other vulnerable
groups of older people in marginal social contexts. Besides poor health and poverty, the
most important risk factor of social exclusion is a low level of formal education. For those
seniors, opportunities need to be developed and made available to re-detect hidden
strengths and thus to enable them to participate actively in community life.
As a measure to support members of seniors self-help groups and initiatives and
corresponding to the above-mentioned demands in Local and Regional Action Plans, the
project aims at developing innovative training offers, which enhance the capabilities and
potentials of seniors to take part in community life as active citizens.
2. Project Approach
2.1 Cooperation at national and European level
In order to achieve the described objectives the consortium of project reflects democratic
participatory structures as well: The composition of the local partnerships is based on the
insight that projects thrive and prosper on the active involvement of a variety of local and
regional actors and civil society organisations, who provide services close to the citizens and
which are adapted to the specific needs of local communities. Thus, at each project location
representatives of the municipality, an adult education institution, a seniors initiative and a
consultant in seniors policies form a core partnership which is responsible for the successful
accomplishment of the project aims. Government officials, seniors associations as
representatives of the target group and specialists in senior policies and education jointly
conceptualised the training measures.
The work at the pilot locations aim at various groups of seniors concerned and at risk of
isolation. Selected were:
• Seniors generally affected or threatened by isolation in the City of Graz and County of
Offenbach,
• Seniors at the age of 75+ in the City of Kassel,
• Seniors with chronic illnesses in the City of Kaunas,
• Seniors with low educational levels in the City of Rome,
• Older carers / nursing relatives in the County of Lancashire.
The work of the European coordination aimed at providing adequate framework conditions
for all partners in their efforts to reach the above-mentioned common objectives of the
SenEmpower project. In order to ensure a smooth flow of communication between all project
partners, the European coordinator established a project mailing list:
senempower@mailing.isis-sozialforschung.de. The list is centrally managed to make sure
that changes in individual email addresses do not lead to the exclusion of the partner from
the overall communication. In addition to this, the European coordinator provided all
necessary structures (e.g. for reports) and templates (e.g. for presentations). This aimed at
facilitating the work of the national partners on one side and at increasing the European
comparability of the work results on the other.
Main products and materials which were elaborated by the European coordination consisted
of:
• A European framework curriculum ensuring the consistency in terms of aims and
outcomes of the otherwise strongly diverse national training curricula
• A template for site-specific project leaflets
• A project website
2.2 Added value of the approach
The outlined major developments in the contexts of ageing societies hold true for all
European countries. There is unanimous consent within the partnership that projects
targeting problems which are of concern in all European countries, should use the approach
of mutual learning from best practices and enrich the results at national, regional or local
level by inputs from other European countries. Similarities and differences in contents and
forms of the work of seniors organisations and educational concepts in the different
European partner countries are considered as the specific strength of the project: Sharing
experiences, discussing examples of good (and bad) practice and developing common
approaches for effective problem solutions and qualification offers will be an important
additional value of the European cooperation.
Although the training courses will be conceptualised and performed according to the priorities
and framework conditions at local or regional level, the exchange of ideas and information in
the framework of the European partnership will ensure the mutual enrichment of the results.
In the context of national workshops, special emphasis will be given to the presentation of
experiences from other European countries. By giving decision-makers from adult education
bodies and the realms of educational and seniors policies the opportunity to directly discuss
the developed approaches in empowering specific target groups among the seniors in other
countries, their cross-boarder transfer will be enhanced and encouraged.
As the European dimension is an integral part of the six target-group specific training
curricula and the Guidelines for Action, they are apt to be edited in form of models which can
be implemented at other locations in Europe. Flexibility plays a crucial role in implementing
measures which were designed at different locations, and the framework curriculum will allow
for national particularities to the necessary extent. Difficulties in the transfer of an example of
good practice from one country to another will be discussed explicitly in the Guidelines for
Action, and obstacles as well as success factors will be described. In this sense the
exchange of information between the partner countries and dissemination activities beyond
their boarders form a core task of the proposed project.
2.3 Training methodology
The didactic framework of all curricula is oriented at empowering the members of the direct
and indirect target groups for active citizenship and social participation in their specific local
context:
• Seniors engaged in civic activities will be supported in developing counselling and
technical skills. In addition to this, the individual curricula will leave scope for self-
determined contents and the testing of newly developed approaches in practice. In this
context, the project aims at the enhancement of skills which the participants will gain in
cooperating with local or regional authorities on the basis of an equal partnership with a
common goal. The concept of service learning in the realm of civic education for young
people and the setting up and performing of community projects based on an equal
partnership of authorities and learners will thus be transferred to the seniors education
sector.
• In view of the seniors at risk or concerned by social isolation, the work on ways out of the
precarious situation of seniors with weak family and social networks must aim at their
activation and empowerment, targeting the hidden, informal resources of persons with a
low formal educational level. Personal mentoring may be needed to support isolated
older people in detecting and re-activating existing strengths and enlarging them: One of
the potential ways can be their integration in seniors initiatives providing mutual support
to their members; others are the participation in more formally organised learning offers,
which connects also learners with restricted mobility to the outside world, or the
attendance of courses in the realm of health sports. These learning offers will not only
enlarge the personal resources of seniors but also have a desired side-effect of social
integration.
Thus the development of appropriate ways and methods to empower older persons with
weak family and social networks will be in the focus of the proposed training measures for
members of seniors self-help groups and initiatives. These newly or further-developed ways
and methods will be implemented in their direct work with persons threatened by social
exclusion problems. In establishing the elaborated tools, the project aims at contributing to
an improved validation of non-formal and informal learning in learning pathways to adult
learners.
The didactic methods are based on the competence approach referring to existing skills that
are enlarged by approaches of learning participatory competences as an integral part of civic
education. In an enlarged comprehension of civic education, learning does not only refer to
political spheres of activity but to the wide range of civic engagement, and rather addresses
the development and the training of individual and societal decision-making and
responsibility. This implies a specific learning environment and educational governance by
focusing on the senior learners’ situation and huge experience and by fostering their
autonomy and responsibility in the learning process. As a basic principle, seniors will be
considered to be providers of knowledge to at least the same extent as recipients of
knowledge.
As a general rule, seniors will be given enough time to reflect the newly gained knowledge
against their own knowledge background and to collect practical experiences with their
freshly learned competences; this applies to the direct target group of the courses, the
members of senior self-help group and voluntary initiatives, to the same extent as to the
indirect target group, the seniors at risk or concerned by social isolation.
2.4 Evaluation approaches
Work tasks in the first project phase focussed on the development of curricula for the above-
mentioned target groups and focus themes. In order to support the local partnerships, the
European coordinator organised mutual “peer reviews”. They were understood as
assessments by coequal colleagues and, in accordance with the guidelines of the
Community Action Programme to increase co-operation in combating social exclusion, “as
mutual learning processes based on the systematic evaluation of good practice and
assessment of selected policies or institutional arrangements …”.2 As a follow-up of the
mutual consultations in the kick-off meeting, peer reviews were performed between the
partners in
• the Cities of Kassel and Graz.
• the City of Kaunas and the County of Lancashire.
• the City of Rome and the County of Offenbach.
The traditional academic form of peer reviews was adapted to the prerequisites and
conditions of the local SenEmpower partnerships, resulting in the following proceeding:
2
Peer review and assessment in social inclusion, Operational Guide 2006, On behalf of the
European Commission, DG Employment, Social Affairs and Equal Opportunities, see:
http://www.peer-review-social-inclusion.net/peer/en/index_html
• Draft curricula of each project location were forwarded to the peer reviewers by end of
April 2008.
• “Comment and questions” papers were then prepared by the partners in the peer region
and sent back by end of May 2008.
• Peer review sessions were held at the partner meeting in early June 2008. They were led
by the local coordinators and responsible partners for conceptualising and performing the
courses, but open to partners from other project locations. The peer review sessions
were structured as follows:
o Presentation of the draft curricula.
o Feed-back by peer regions’ representatives based on their comment paper.
o Comments by representatives and stakeholders from other project regions.
o Discussion and further development of the draft curriculum.
Evaluation during the second project phase will also include inquiries of the participants of
the training courses, national evaluation meetings and inquiries of the participants of national
dissemination workshops.
2.5 Dissemination and exploitation
Project leaflets were developed for each project location and based on a template by the
European coordinator. The templates contained information on the SenEmpower project
outlining its background, objectives, work contents, outcomes and the common European
framework. Furthermore, they offered space for site-specific focus themes and contact data
of those responsible. Again, those templates were considered an offer which could be
adopted partly or completely with view to the best possible results at local level.
The SenEmpower project was communicated by a variety of ways to reach key persons at
professional and political levels as well as the broad public:
• Direct mail: Graz, Kassel, Kaunas, County of Lancashire
• Word of mouth: Graz, Kassel, Kaunas, County of Offenbach, Rome.
• Project leaflets: Graz, Kassel, Kaunas, County of Lancashire, County of Offenbach,
Rome.
• Websites: Kassel, Kaunas, County of Lancashire, Rome.
• Newspaper articles: Kassel, County of Offenbach.
• Broadcasting by local radio: Kassel, county of Offenbach (in planning).
• Inclusion in policy papers: Kaunas.
• Public events: County of Lancashire, Rome.
Besides the locally based project leaflets, dissemination was primarily accomplished by the
project website www.senempower.eu. The SenEmpower project has its roots in the former
‘Isolation to Inclusion’ (i2i) project, funded by DG Employment, Social Affairs and Equal
Opportunities. Project partners made the decision to add a SenEmpower website to the
already existing ‘i2i’ one and to connect both with a joint splash page. The logos and website
designs of the SenEmpower website were developed by the same agency developing the
‘i2i’ one and thus show some resemblances.
The structure of the SenEmpower website contains the following information:
• About the project.
• Project partners.
• Local and regional focus themes.
• SenEmpower volunteers.
• Outcomes.
• Contact and Feedback.
• Links.
The key products of the project to be exploited in the second project phase are manuals for
adult educators and the Guidelines for Actions for all parties concerned. Partners with the
end-users perspective (seniors, government officials, adult educators) were not only
involved from the very beginning in order to enhance their development, but this also applies
to the mainstreaming of the results within their own systems by statements, articles,
conference papers etc. Final national workshops will be specifically designed for decision-
makers from the mentioned realms. Responsible persons from two foreign partner countries
will attend each workshop to report on their results for the specific target groups in their local
context. Thus necessary adaptations can be discussed in order to facilitate the transfer from
one country to the other.
Setting up a plan for the establishment of the developed training measures and the transfer
of measures from other countries will form a part of the exploitation activities. In this context,
interested members of seniors associations and adult education bodies will be encouraged to
initiate learning partnerships which will also serve to disseminate the manuals and
Guidelines for Action and prepare further activities upon completion of the project.
3. Project Outcomes & Results
3.1 European framework curriculum
The European framework curriculum defines, among others, the didactic framework and the
components of the training courses. As at each project location, the local partners had the
opportunity to decide upon contents, methods, duration and timing of the courses which are
considered most appropriate for the specific local focus themes and groups, the European
framework served as an overall orientation.
According to the European framework curriculum, the courses ensure the transfer of
necessary knowledge of the members of senior’s self-help groups and voluntary initiatives in
how to work with seniors at risk or affected by isolation. At the same time, they stimulate a
self-determined exploration and investigation of the field, and they facilitate the development
of further actions, based on the newly gained knowledge and experiences from the training
courses. Thus, the following structure of the training courses with components which build on
each other is obligatory:
• Transfer of background knowledge and development of technical skills.
• Exploration of local offers for isolated seniors.
• Development of actions to be taken.
For more details on the European framework curriculum, please see:
http://www.senempower.eu/project/framework-curriculum.pdf
3.2 Local focus themes
The local focus themes and groups reflect specific risk factors for social isolation which are
considered important at local level:
• Training for voluntary senior visitors: Work in Graz aimed at developing a training
curriculum for senior volunteers seeking out older people at a high risk of social
exclusion. Normally, isolated and socially disadvantaged older people are ill-informed
about community services. Thus, voluntary ‘social workers’ need to be trained to impart
information to senior citizens, to investigate their concerns and requirements and to
support them living an active and independent life.
• Training for seniors cooperatives: Trainings for seniors cooperatives and multipliers in the
realm of voluntary work were to be developed in the District of Offenbach. Members of
seniors cooperatives are enabled to identify older persons with ‘weak’ family networks
and to encourage them to actively participate in the cooperative. Thus, seniors at risk or
affected by social isolation will be offered the opportunity not only being consumers but
also providers of support for others.
• Volunteer trainers in a preventive health programme for people aged 75+: Training offers
for seniors initiatives focussing on people at the age of 75+ are performed in the City of
Kassel, encouraging them to take part in groups to train their intellectual, functional and
social capacities. Special attention is given to people with multiple risk factors.
• Training for seniors initiatives promoting the social inclusion of older people with low
educational levels: A training curriculum was developed in Rome, where senior
volunteers will organise leisure time and mobility activities for older people at risk or
affected by isolation. A special focus is put on educational opportunities for seniors,
especially older women, with a low education level but practical talents, e.g. in the field of
handicrafts. They will be given the opportunity to not only engage in practical but also
managing functions in a solidarity project of tailoring, managed by the City of Rome.
• Training for senior volunteers promoting the social inclusion of older people with chronic
illnesses: As welfare services for older people in general and for older people with
chronic illnesses in particular are still in the process of being built up in Lithuania, seniors
self-help group and voluntary work initiatives need to be supported and encouraged in
their development. Senior volunteers in Kaunas are trained to help older people with
chronic illnesses to take part in community life by offering personal support in either self-
developing skills and capabilities to better cope with their situation or offering activities,
such as peer counselling and joint leisure time activities.
• Training for senior volunteers promoting the social inclusion of older carers: The training
curriculum was developed for people nursing relatives, often neglected as a group of
people who are at risk or affected by isolation. The qualification will enable carers to
actively communicate problems and motivate other carers to participate in sharing their
experiences. It will be part of the training to learn to organise respite from their work and
be able to recognise when they may require this respite and other forms of support.
3.3 Local training modules
With regards to the different target groups and focus themes, the contents of the training
modules vary considerably, so that only a rough overview can be given at this place.
Phase 1: Transfer of background knowledge and technical skills
In a first step, participants of the training courses will be provided with information about the
problems of isolated seniors, in particular those who belong to the local focus group, and
about strategies and ways of how to approach, advice and mentor isolated old people. The
learning objectives were defined as follows:
• The participants understand the underlying social and personal conditions of the
individual problems of their clients and are sensitised for their wants and needs.
• The participants develop potential strategies for the solution of isolation problems.
• The participants develop technical skills in addressing and empowering seniors at risk or
affected by isolation.
Background knowledge and technical skills which were considered important by the local
steering groups for volunteers who will help to re-integrate isolated seniors into community
life included, among others, the following issues:
• Societal changes.
• Active citizenship, voluntarism and social inclusion.
• Basic psychological information on loneliness and isolation.
• Cognitive, physical and psycho-educational training skills.
• Self-empowerment and self-promotion.
• Negotiation skills.
• Confidence building.
• Organisational issues.
Applied methods refer to the above-mentioned “competence approach” which is based on
existing skills that are enlarged by approaches of learning participatory competences. The
following methods are exemplary for the six pilot locations and demonstrate a broad mix of
approaches:
• Information inputs.
• Brainstorming.
• Discussion groups.
• Single, pair and teamwork.
• Role plays and simulation games.
• (Self-)analyses of motives and intentions.
• Psychodrama and sociometry.
• Learning exercises like “language of pictures” or “snowball”.
Estimations on the duration of phase 1 of training vary between the project locations. For
consolidated and clearly laid out project like in Graz, necessary background knowledge and
technical skills are supposed to be imparted in 11 hours. In the County of Offenbach 14
hours, in Rome 22 hours, in Kaunas 30 hours and in Kassel more than 50 hours are planned
for the first phase of the training courses.
Phase 2: Exploration phase
Following the development of basic knowledge for the work with isolated seniors, the
participants of the training courses will be encouraged and guided to explore the range of
local opportunities (and their limits), of training and other supportive offers: participants of
trainings will seek out formal and informal service providers and gain practical experiences
with organisations who are specialized in working with seniors at risk or affected by isolation.
The learning objectives were defined as follows:
• The participants are informed about offers at local level for seniors at risk or affected by
isolation.
• The participants get insight into the work of formal and informal service providers.
With reference to the local focus themes, applied methods of the exploration phase included,
among others:
• Information inputs.
• Access of services.
• Mapping exercises.
• Expert interviews.
• Observations.
• Group excursions.
• Team work.
• Joint reflections and exchange of experiences.
Again, the estimated time-frame of phase 2 of the training courses varies considerably.
Additionally, in some curricula time is allowed for reacting flexibly to individual needs and for
respecting individual arrangements.
Phase 3: Actions to be taken
This part focuses on developing new or further-developing available offers aiming at
empowering isolated seniors and testing those measures in practice. The results are fed-
back to the government officials, thus ensuring that the implementation of new or further-
developed ways and methods is supported and that the general framework conditions of
promoting the reintegration of isolated seniors into community life are enhanced. As a
learning objective the participants should gain knowledge on how to develop (or further-
develop) and implement an approach for addressing and empowering seniors at risk or
affected by isolation at their project location.
Thus, the following actions are planned to be taken at the different project locations:
• Graz: Implementation and reflection of a voluntary visiting service.
• Kassel: Performance of decentralised learning groups for seniors 75+.
• Kaunas: Moderation of self-help groups and reflection of voluntary work experiences.
• County of Lancashire: Developing a training the trainers model to allow carers and ex-
carers to train other carers.
• County of Offenbach: Conceptualisation and performance of activities to improve the
situation of solitary people in Langen.
• Rome: Dissemination and promotion of the opportunities offered for socially isolated older
women.
3.4 Feed-back at local and national level
The project is welcomed and highly appreciated at all levels as shown in the following
examples:
• In Kaunas, the project idea will be reflected in drafting the National Strategy of Social
Protection and Social Inclusion for 2008 – 2010.
• In Austria, the Minister for Social Affairs emphasized SenEmpower as best practise
project in the field of public participation of older men and women.
• In Kassel, the project is highly prioritised due to its relevance to the municipality’s
programme on demographic change.
• At Langen, part of the County of Offenbach, the mayor invited the press and introduced
the project at the press conference.
• At Kassel more seniors were interested in the training than places were available, so that
only 18 volunteers out of 40 could be selected.
• In Lancashire the project has had to limit the number of organisations as they could work
with to three – as this is a pilot phase – despite the interest of many more.
4. Partnerships
4.1 Communication and cooperation at local level
The SenEmpower project has a large number of actively involved project partners at different
levels. Government officials, seniors associations as representatives of the target group and
specialists in senior policies and education jointly conceptualised the training measures.
Further, each of the partners is taking on specific responsibilities in the work process:
• Local or regional government partners help to identify and define the existing framework
conditions at political level, especially in the realms of educational and seniors policies.
• Partners representing the target groups promote the participation of interested volunteers
in the training courses.
• Educational institutions partners are responsible for the organisation and performance of
the training measures.
• Consultants in seniors policies moderate and coordinate the networking at local and/or
regional level and will take on the task of process and impact evaluation.
In most of the project locations, additional representatives have been invited to join the
consultations about the appropriate conceptualisation of the training curricula. Therefore the
steering groups / advisory boards are composed at each location as follows:
• Graz: Training providers, welfare organisations, representatives of the target group,
local authorities, volunteers, district councillors.
• Kassel: Training experts and providers, municipality department of social services,
volunteers, senior councillors, welfare providers, health insurance.
• Kaunas: self-help groups, seniors association, residential home for old people and day
care centre, municipality department of social affairs, university department of social
work.
• County of Lancashire: municipality departments, seniors association, social worker / ex-
carer, university department of continuing education.
• County of Offenbach: welfare organisation, voluntary agency of the county of
Offenbach, voluntary agency of the Region of Hessen, seniors cooperative, research
institution.
• Rome: training providers, seniors association, municipality department of social
policies.
The steering groups met regularly during the past project phase and completed the training
curricula for their specific focus theme at each location in the meantime. In addition to that,
as an important side effect, the project is used in Lithuania to introduce and promote the idea
of voluntarism, make voluntary activities become an acknowledged societal activity
contributing to the general well-being of the population.
The above described composition of the local partnerships allowed to develop a training
curricula which is fitting exactly the needs of the addressed target group. Thus, the quality of
the outcome benefited highly from inviting local representatives of senior organisations.
4.2 Communication and cooperation at European level
A first partner meeting was organised on 18 and 19 December 2007. Here new project
partners became acquainted with team members of the former i2i project. Besides the
introduction of partners, their organisations and the project locations, the meeting aimed at
clarifying questions concerning the contents and procedures of the SenEmpower project. In
small groups of two local teams the partners exchanged first ideas concerning the
conceptualisation of their site-specific curricula, and the discussions in plenary contributed to
sharing good practise examples.
Besides the presentation of the accomplished work results and the performance of the
above-mentioned peer reviews, the second partner meeting aimed at preparing the next
working steps and clarifying organisational issues. All partners highlighted the importance of
exchanging their ideas across countries and benefiting from mutual learning effects.
In self-assessing their work, the project partners mentioned a number of challenges met in
the previous project phase, among which the following ones are independent from local
particularities and are therefore of general importance:
• Creating a curriculum tailored to the needs of older volunteers.
• Develop a concept which is brand-new without a model to learn from existing.
• Involving as many stakeholders and experts as possible in the curriculum development.
• Guiding senior volunteers group from the status of learners to an essentially self-
organised group.
Potential risks that could endanger the successful implementation of the training courses are
seen in aims which are set too high to be reached, and participants might be over-challenged
and drop out of the courses. In one case, due to changes in the national and local political
administration, changes in social policies may occur and affect the SenEmpower project, too.
In another case, as a surprise and unexpected outcome, the high interest of the public in
general and interested senior learners in particular was mentioned.
5. Plans for the Future
The working steps in the second part of the SenEmpower project will consist of:
• 09/08 – 02/09: Performance of training courses.
• 12/08 – 01/09: Evaluation of training courses.
• 01/09 – 02/09: Elaboration of proposals for Learning partnerships as a follow-up
measure for SenEmpower volunteers.
• 02/09 – 03/09: Organisation and performance of third partner meeting.
• 04/09 – 06/09: Elaboration of site-specific manuals for adult educators.
• 04/09 – 06/09: Elaboration of Guidelines for Action.
• 05/09 – 09/09: Organisation of national workshops.
• 06/09 – 08/09: Translation, layout and publication of Guidelines for Action.
• 08/09 – 09/09: Reporting.
6. Contribution to EU policies
With view to the growing number of seniors in Europe, the Charter of Fundamental Rights of
the European Union explicitly states that “The Union recognises and respects the rights of
the elderly to lead a life of dignity and independence and to participate in social and cultural
life.” (Art. 25).
As regards specific EU policies, the project contributes to:
• promoting an Open Learning Environment by encouraging the further development of
existing skills and knowledge of senior volunteers through mainly informal, non-formal
and self-directed learning opportunities, thus promoting the flexibility in learning systems.
• gaining interpersonal and social competences through the proposed training courses
which applies both to the direct and indirect target groups of the training.
• making provision for learners with special needs, and in particular by helping to promote
their integration into mainstream education and training.
• recognising the importance of seniors volunteering by local communities and
governments which is an important means of combating discrimination against older
people who are still viewed as being primarily welfare consumers and not welfare
providers.
• further developing of adult learning provisions by identification, assessment and
promotion of quality in the organisation and management of adult learning.
In addition to this, the project is in coherence with the Second Trans-national Exchange
Programme of the European Commission, DG Employment, Social Affairs and Equal
Opportunities, to Combat Social Exclusion and Poverty, 2005 – 2007, in which the
predecessor project for this proposal was funded. It also corresponds to the ESF
theme “Innovative approaches to the management of change” with the aim of supporting
innovative initiatives to promote active ageing.
7. Members of the SenEmpower project
This report is a joint result of the Senempower consortium members from:
Austria
• Ulla Herfort-Wörndle ○ Stadt Graz, Sozialamt - SeniorInnenbüro ○ Schmiedgasse
26/1 ○ 8010 Graz
• Elisabeth Huber ○ Volkshilfe Steiermark Verbandssekretariat ○ Keplerstraße 53 ○
8020 Graz
• Anita Rappauer ○ queraum. kultur- & sozialforschung ○ Obere Donaustraße 59/7a
○ 1020 Vienna
• Michael Stadler-Vida ○ queraum. kultur- & sozialforschung ○ Obere Donaustraße
59/7a ○ 1020 Vienna
• Monika Tatzl ○ Volkshilfe Steiermark Landesverein ○ Keplerstraße 53 ○ 8020 Graz
Germany
• Ursula Brendel ○ Seniorenbüro Winkelsmühle ○ An der Winkelsmühle 5 ○ 63303
Dreieich
• Jürgen Kopp ○ Volunta Kassel ○ Friedrichsstr. 14 ○ 34117 Kassel
• Hans Lucas ○ Kreis Offenbach Ehrenamtsagentur ○ An der Winkelsmühle 5 ○ 63303
Dreieich
• Ursula Lüdtke ○ Seniorenhilfe Langen e.V. ○ Zimmerstraße 3 ○ 63225 Langen
• Annette Müller ○ Deutsches Rotes Kreuz in Hessen Volunta gGmbH ○ Friedrichsstr.
14 ○ 34119 Kassel
• Karin Schulze ○ Seniorenhilfe Langen e.V. ○ Zimmerstraße 3 ○ 63225 Langen
• Birgit Schwalm ○ Deutsches Rotes Kreuz in Hessen Volunta gGmbH ○ Knaustwiesen
24 ○ 34130 Kassel
• Karin Stiehr ○ Institut für Soziale Infrastruktur ○ Kasseler Straße 1a ○ 60486
Frankfurt am Main
• Angelika Trilling ○ Stadt Kassel, Sozialamt ○ Obere Königstraße 8 ○ 34112
Kassel
• Tanja Villinger ○ Institut für Soziale Infrastruktur ○ Kasseler Straße 1a ○ 60486
Frankfurt am Main
• Brigitte Werber ○ ZEDA ○ Am Krümmershof 87 ○ 34132 Kassel
• Stephan Würz ○ LandesEhrenamtsagentur Hessen ○ Otto-Fleck-Schneise 4 ○
60528 Frankfurt am Main
Italy
• Alessandra Bertinelli ○ Lunaria ○ Via Buanorroti 39 ○ 00185 Roma
• Francesca Marchetti ○ Comune di Roma ○ Viale Manzoni, 16 ○ 00185 Roma
• Bruna Marzucchini ○ FOCUS ○ Via Pescosolido, 54 ○ 00158 Roma
Lituania
• Nijole Arbasciauskiene ○ Senjorų Iniciatyvų Centras ○ V. Landsbergio-Zemkalnio
6-37 ○ 49295 Kaunas
• Irena Elena Bulotaite ○ Kauno miesto savivaldybės administracijos Socialinių reikalų
departamento Socialinių reikalų skyrius ○ Nemuno st. 29 ○ 44295 Kaunas
• Rasa Naujaniene ○ Socialinės Integracijos Centras, Socialinio Darbo Institutas,
Vytauto Didžiojo Universitetas ○ Donelaicio 52-408 ○ 44244 Kaunas
• Edita Satiene ○ Senjorų Iniciatyvų Centras ○ V. Landsbergio-Zemkalnio 6-37 ○
49295 Kaunas
United Kingdom
• Rory Daly ○ Lancaster University, Department of Continuing Education ○ Ash
House, Lancaster University ○ Lancaster LA1 4YT
• Janet Beadle ○ Lancashire County Council ACS ○ PO Box 162 ○ Preston PR1
3EA
• Mark Luraschi ○ Lancashire County Council ACS ○ 55 St Wilfrids’s Park ○ Halton
LA2 6PN
• Janice Taylor ○ Age Concern Lancashire ○ 61 – 63 St Thomas’s Road ○ Chorley
PR7 1JE
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