Caring and Sharing Communities

<< Background >>The background to the project is the situation of disadvantaged people in rural regions of Europe. There is a lack of shopping facilities, medical/social care, mobility services, opportunities to meet people, advice centres and care and support services. This severely restricts the quality of life of many people. The restrictions become serious when people are not (or no longer) independently mobile. Their ability to participate is extremely limited and the risk of social isolation is high. Demographic change is exacerbating the situation because it is hitting rural communities particularly hard. Changing family structures mean that the potential for family care and support is diminishing. The Kuratorium Deutsche Altershilfe has called for a paradigm shift in the direction of senior citizens' policy if it is to meet the needs of older people and at the same time be financially sustainable. This was taken up in the German government's 7th Report on the Elderly (2017), which focussed on the care and shared responsibility of the local authority - in line with the guiding principle of a caring community.<< Objectives >>As part of the Erasmus project, Caring & Sharing Communities were to be designed and established in 5 selected pilot communities in the three partner countries Germany, Austria and Italy. To this end, citizen participation processes were to be carried out, accompanied by trained employees of the partner organisations. As part of the participation processes, the process facilitators qualify committed local citizens to develop needs-based, location-specific concepts and to set up Caring & Sharing Communities - e.g. as a citizens' association - and to manage and lead them sustainably. Volunteers and future employees in the Caring & Sharing Communities will receive tailored training for their respective activities, e.g. as interviewers for neighbourhood visits or as everyday companions to support people in their own homes.The aim was to create a multipliable model process that can be used by other process facilitators as a basis for further community processes in rural regions using the (training) materials developed and tested during the project. << Implementation >>The following dates/activities have taken place:Transnational project meetings (TPM 1-6):- TPM1: January 2022 (AT, presence)- TPM2: May-June 2022 (online)- TPM3: July 2022 (online)- TPM4: November 2022 (IT, presence)- TPM5: July 2023 (DE, presence)- TPM6: November 2024 (IT, presence)Activities in the areas of learning, teaching, training (LTTA 1-4):- LTTA1: July 2022 (DE)- LTTA2: November 2022 (IT)- LTTA3: March 2024 (AT)- LTTA4: September 2024 (additional date online)Multiplier Event (ME 1-3):- ME1: July 2023 (DE, 80 participants)- ME2: March 2024 (AT, 26 participants)- ME3: November 2024 (IT, 53 participants)Pilot processes (AT, IT, DE)- Scena (IT)- Sierning (AT)- Wartberg o. d. Aist (AT)- Kirchberg-Thening- Berghaupten (DE)- Rheinau (DE; withdrew shortly after the start of the process due to disagreements in the senior citizens' council)- Heitersheim (DE; joined later as a pilot municipality as a successor to Rheinau)Team jour fixe- 1x per month (online)<< Results >>concrete outputs:Res1 Model process manualRes2 Curriculum process supportRes3 Curriculum CSC teamRes4 Curriculum for home visits and neighbourhood visitsRes5 Curriculum for CSC staffRes6 ZEITBANKplus manualRes7 Best practice databaseother results:- Establishment of (intergenerational) networks in the pilot communities- Creation of social connectedness and participation among the citizens - Initiating and strengthening lively local neighbourhoods- Motivating and activating the self-help potential and self-initiative of citizens- Introduction of shared/joint responsibility as a vision for the future of communities: Municipality - citizens - institutions - professional services - Enabling the (further) development of needs-based and customised counselling, meeting, care and support services in the pilot municipalities- Removal of barriers between civil society and (political) municipal administration- Getting to know and networking with best-practice models in DE, AT and IT and their initiators/operators (through accompanying excursions organised by SPES e.V. as an EU-accredited adult education institution KA1)- Acquisition of the statutory health insurance provider AOK: qualificatication courses for volunteers