Digital Generations

<< Background >>During the COVID-19 pandemic, elderly citizens experienced challenges such as isolation and a lack of digital skills, leaving them feeling disconnected. Eurostat's Community Survey on ICT Usage in Households revealed a significant need for digital education and training in partner countries involved in this project. The main priority for the partners was to improve the quality of life for elderly individuals and adapt to the ageing population. This involved creating opportunities for dignified ageing, including participation in society, intergenerational cooperation, volunteering, and ICT communication. Some partners were already providing training and raising awareness about the importance of ICT for social inclusion and cognitive training. The Digital Generation project aligned with these needs, adding value to the partners' national activities and inspiring further initiatives. By addressing the digital divide, this project aimed to empower elderly citizens with the skills needed to engage in a digital world.<< Objectives >>This project aimed to empower elderly citizens by equipping them with digital skills and enabling them to connect with their peers. The project recognized that younger generations excel in online creative expression, and sought to leverage their expertise to train older adults. The project had several objectives, including investigating isolation among older citizens, collecting effective examples of digital activities, researching intergenerational good practices, identifying digital tools for creative expression, and developing a training methodology based on intergenerational learning. The project also aimed to enhance the social inclusion and mental health of elderly citizens, share findings beyond the partnership, create synergies between adult education and youth work organisations, encourage elderly individuals' creativity and interaction, advocate for active ageing through digital means, and provide guidelines for implementing similar programs at various levels. The goal was to maximise the project's impact and ensure broader adoption and sustainability.<< Implementation >>WP0 - Management and Coordination:A0: Management ActivitiesA5: Activity and Financial ReportsA8: Management MeetingsWP1 - Quality and Evaluation:A3: Quality PlanA6 & A7: Quality ReportsWP2 - Dissemination and Exploitation:A1: Dissemination PlanA2: Dissemination MaterialsA4: Dissemination ReportsA9: Dissemination ActivitiesWP3 - State of the art research & good practices collection (R1) WP4 - Digital tools handbook (R2) WP5 - Training and mentoring methodologies (R3 & R4 with testing - 1st and 2nd pilot) and Guidelines for other municipalities and interested organisations across Europe.(R5) The pilotings, training activities, and Multiplier events enabled us to firstly check the quality and adequacy of the materials. These activities also aimed to upskill participants so they could share good practices, foster intergenerational contact, and facilitate training and interaction. Within the pilot PR3 partners had altogether 108 senior participants in the workshops and 68 senior participants within the 2nd pilot (PR4). C1 short term training “Training methodology”: This short-term joint staff training was organised aimed to train young people who would implement the training methodology. Subsequently, the participants acquired the skills needed to propagate the training methodology and enhance the project's sustainability. Mostly three participants per partner organisations attended ( 2 young and 1 staff).C2 short term training “Mentoring methodology”: This activity included three participants per partner organisation: two young adults (18-30) responsible for implementing the piloting phase, and a person from each organisation responsible for creating R4. The objective of this short-term joint staff training was to equip young people with the skills to implement the mentoring methodology. As a result, participants acquired the necessary skills. << Results >>- State of the Art Research and Good Practices (R1), collecting the good practices carried out by and outside the partnership: number of survey respondents within the research of Communication and creative needs of seniors was 132 people and within the impact of social isolation among seniors 101 people were reached. 2 good practices on the international level were selected and 2 good practices per country (altogether 10 GPs). The result is available in 5 partner languages and English. - A handbook(R2) with links to the tools how to use them a) the competences needed to be creative online; and b) the tools that can be used to achieve this aim, along with the guide on how to use them. The result is available in 5 partner languages and English. - A guidebook with the training methodology developed that can be followed by young people to teach the elders how to use that tool (R3): C1 LTAA training was organised for young people and staff in Athens (16 participants). This guidebook was then piloted in all countries, each country selecting at least 2 young people and at least 5 people over the age of 65 to test the guidebook. 108 senior participants attended workshops altogether in all partner countries. The result is available in 5 partner languages and English. - A guidebook with the mentoring methodology on how to accompany an elder person to create artistic digital products and how to share them online (R4): C2 LTTA was organised for young people and staff (15 participants) in Malaga. This result was piloted as well and reached 68 senior participants. The result is available in 5 partner languages and English. - Guideline for other municipalities and interested organisations across Europe. (R5) The result is available in 5 partner languages and English. - Project website was established https://digitalgenerationsproject.eu/. In the last year, from January to May 2024, the website has received a total of 6,411 visits and 1,450 users. The website is currently accessible in all languages of the consortium (Spanish, Slovenian, French, Greek and Bulgarian). All results, articles (in total, 16 articles) and newsletters (in total, 4 newsletters) produced throughout the project are available in all languages.- Partners organised at least 2 multiplier events and in total, at least 265 people have been informed about the Digital Generations project through these events.