Demographic change, population ageing and the challenge of an ageing workforce are key global challenges facing almost all developed countries in the world. The European project activity carried out by the Centre for Lifelong Learning examines ways of confronting these key global challenges using lifelong learning, intergenerational working and business solutions to enhance the opportunity for greater social inclusion in later life. Working collaboratively with partner organisations across Europe, the Centre underpins the University’s commitment to “the development of knowledge and people around the world” while at the same time,“doing good in the world and solving the global issues of today and the future”.
The Centre for Lifelong Learning is currently participating in the following projects:
DIALOGUE This project is seeking to improve the links between research, policy and practice in lifelong learning. It is looking at the role of national and international networks in research and is developing examples of good practice across Europe. The project has a particular focus on research and access and progression; new media; learning and guidance; and quality.
An example of how this has been put into practice in the Centre was an hour-long seminar on 'Learning in Later Life and Brain Research'. This involved a short lecture, group discussion and feedback. You can watch a 16 min. edited version of this event below.
Dialogue Film from Val Bissland on Vimeo.
The Age Management in Practice (AMaP) project aims to address the challenge around access to, and participation in, Continuing Vocational Education and Training (CVET) among older workers aged 50+, and to increase awareness of the European Qualification Framework (EQF). The project also considers the challenge of an ageing workforce through the lens of employers, seeking current views and attitudes towards older workers and promotes the implementation of age management practices.
Partners: GEB Berlin (Germany), Lifelong Learning Research Institute (Greece), Semper Avanti (Poland), Kerigma (Portugal) and Folkuniversitetet (Sweden).
Website: www.a-map.eu
Funded by: European Commission Lifelong Learning Programme (Leonardo da Vinci)
Contact:
Graham Smith
Project Coordinator
Tel: 0141 548 3082
Email: graham.smith@strath.ac.uk
TOK TOC (Transfer of Knowledge, Transfer of Human Capital) aims to provide the ageing workforce and its successors with the skills and capacity needed for sustainable business transfer through the development of innovative solutions. The active involvement of local authorities in smoothing out the path for successful business transfer is crucial, not only for regional economies, but, also, for ensuring a balanced social existence and future regional development
Extensive use of ICT prevents the loss of knowledge owned by the ageing workforce. More importantly, entrepreneurs and workforce can benefit from collaborating with local authorities, a process which constitutes the most innovative aspect of TOK-TOC. The project will demonstrate that supporting an ageing workforce has a national added value, plays a strong role in maintaining an active society and contributes to each individual's reaching of market potential. In this context, 3 cultural aspects related to the ageing workforce affect SME transfer, that is, how older workers learn, how the market reacts towards the ageing workforce, how the ageing workforce transfers its knowledge, know-how and experience to its younger successors.
Partners: ZSI – Athens Chamber of Small & Medium Sized Industries (Greece), Municipality of Marathon (Greece), Municipality of Kardzhali (Bulgaria), Latvia Technology Park (Latvia), Stichting Business Development Friesland (The Netherlands) and Barcelona Chamber of Commerce (Spain).
Website: www.tok-toc.eu
Funded by: Interreg IVC
Contact:
Graham Smith
Project Coordinator
Tel: 0141 548 3082
Email: graham.smith@strath.ac.uk
LIKE - Learning through Innovative management concepts to ensure transfer of Knowledge of Elderly people - aims to contribute to the definition and development of a renewed European social model for the ageing workforce, a group increasingly excluded from the labour market. The main objective is to study how innovative management approaches can generate concepts to address the urgent European situation which consists of low employment rates of older workers, shortage of critical skills and declining of birth rate. The aims of the project are:
- To develop new approaches for combating age barriers in employment
- To promote the adaptability of the older workforce to the changing business environment
- To enhance age management business concepts in favour of the participation, performance and productivity of the ageing work force (context-oriented innovation)
- To support new objectives for the area of interest regarding age management policies in order to meet future demographic needs (goal- oriented innovation)
- To sensitize employers and positively influence them towards older workers.
Partners: Lifelong Learning Research Institute (Greece), Academy of Management (Poland), Documenta (Spain) and Folkuniversitetet (Sweden).
Website: www.like.lllprojects.eu
Funded by: European Commission Lifelong Learning Programme (Grundtvig)
Contact:
Lynda Scott
Project Coordinator
Tel: 0141 548 4974
Email: lynda.scott@strath.ac.uk
The SILVER project (Successful Intergenerational Learning through Validation, Education and Research) aims to develop a unique holistic and inclusive approach for intergenerational learning among knowledge workers, by addressing the difficulties of implementing it within an organisation. Helping organisations implement lifelong intergenerational learning can enable them to capitalize on ageing workers’ capacities. This project aims to contribute to the development of the European Union as an advanced knowledge-based society. To reach these aims the project will: Develop a stakeholder awareness program; develop a ‘Doing intergenerational learning toolbox’ contextualised for six industries and six national cultures; and develop a web-based game for practicing intergenerational learning that can be contextualised accordingly for organisational and national cultures and sectors.
Partners: Inholland University of Applied Sciences (The Netherlands), Oulu University of Applied Sciences (Finland), Brandenburg University of Technology Cottbus (Germany), South East European Research Centre (Greece) and Academy of Economic Studies of Bucharest (Romania).
Website: www.intergenerationallearning.eu
Funded by: European Commission Lifelong Learning Programme (Grundtvig)
Contact:
Lynda Scott
Project Coordinator
Tel: 0141 548 4974
Email: lynda.scott@strath.ac.uk
The motto, "Sapere aude!” which means: dare to be wise!, was created by the ancient philosopher Horace, and forms the foundations of the PEER project’s paradigm. Knowledge exchange between people is an effective way of learning, particularly in later life. 50+ platforms (online social platforms for adults aged 50+) offer tremendous potential for sustaining learning opportunities across the life course in later life. The project aims to provide facilitation of informal and non-formal peer learning in online communities supported by customized Web2.0 tools for adults aged 50+. The objective is to provide a significant breakthrough in the innovative application of Web 2.0 tools to enable older people to maintain their cognitive ability, to share their experiences and knowledge, to be socially interactive and to gain self-fulfilment.
Partners: ZSI - Centre for Social Innovation (Austria), University of Ulm (Germany), Netherlands Institute for Health Promotion (The Netherlands) and AGH-University of Science and Technology (Poland).
Website: www.peer-learning-50plus.eu
Funded by: European Commission Lifelong Learning Programme (Grundtvig)
Contact:
Maureen Marley
Project Coordinator
Tel: 0141 548 4388
Email: maureen.marley@strath.ac.uk
The Mix@ges – Intergenerational bonding via Creative New Media project aims to:
- Encourage intergenerational bonding through (media) arts
- Challenge and overcome negative stereotypes between the generations and bridge the generational gap as well as digital divide
- Create incentives and access to social, civic, cultural and intercultural competences and creativity in intergenerational learning
- Support social linkage and cohesion between the generations and foster cross-generation interaction as an integral part of society
- Contribute to the European Year of Active Ageing and Intergenerational Solidarity in 2012.
Partners: ZSI – Institut fur Bildung und Kultur (Germany), KulturKontakt (Austria), Entr’Ages (Belgium) and ZDUS (Slovenia)
On 16 May, 2013 in Ljubljana, Slovenia, the Mix@ges project launched its manual entitled, “The Mix@ges Experience”. The conference was hosted by ZDUS and attended by 100 delegates from all over Europe. ZDUS is the “Slovenian Federation of Pensioners Associations”. It is an umbrella organisation of 503 local groups with over 233,000 participants and is the largest membership organisation in Slovenia.
You can view “The Mix@ges Experience” manual at:
http://issuu.com/ibk-kubia/docs/manual_mixages_web
Website: www.mixages.eu
Funded by: European Commission Lifelong Learning Programme (Grundtvig)
Contact:
Maureen Marley
Project Coordinator
Tel: 0141 548 4388
Email: maureen.marley@strath.ac.uk
SLIC - Sustainable Learning in the Community A process of identifying community champions and collaborating with them to profile skills and effectiveness, and support further development.
Maureen Marley
Project Co-ordinator
Tel: 0141 548 4388
E-mail: maureen.marley@strath.ac.uk
Contact:
Lynda Scott
Community Learning Project Co-ordinator
Tel: 0141 548 4974
E-mail: lynda.scott@strath.ac.uk