Přenesení dánského modelu dobrovolnického zapojení seniorů jakožto lektorů ve vzdělávání ostatních seniorů v ČR

"<< Background >>In Czech, older people are often neglected despite their enormous potential of knowledge, skills, life experience and stories and also free time.Elpida has been focusing on the education of seniors since 2002 - but not only on teaching them but also on the empowerment of seniors. Starting from 2018 Elpida gradually moves from traditionally conceived courses for seniors towards increasing participation of seniors. Two aspects of the ""Danish model"" were the key aspect:1/ the authenticity of the program which comes from the seniors as such, from their wishes or abilities - not from the expert position of the organizer;2/ a solid community of self-confident and active seniors who run activities for other seniors.The inspiration for the partnership with Denmark is based on the completely different functioning of Danish local Activity centres. In exchange of joining the program of their interests, the seniors naturally offer preparing and running their own activities for other seniors as volunteers. That prolongs their active life, enriches the social relations and supports self-confidence. In contrast with the Czech Republic, in Denmark the local municipalities are fundamentally involved.<< Objectives >>Elpida was seeking ways to create a supportive infrastructure for informal volunteering of older people. The majority of Czech seniors don´t take part in volunteering because they lack courage or don´t identify with volunteering discredited by the communist regime. But if the support comes in a suitable way (=senior friendly), they get involved much easier and dedicate their time and efforts to beneficial activities. The key is the close relationship of a senior with the organization and it´s credibility. In the project Elpida needed to prove whether this idea works and at the same time to build-up the relationship of seniors to the organization. This will generate a number of benefits:* Seniors become direct bearers of lifelong learning;* By increasing the teaching competences of seniors, the length of their active and fulfilled life extends;* The position of a senior lecturer implies his broad knowledge and experience. That strengthens the healthy self-esteem. Besides it gives them a credit appreciated by younger generations;* A new community of senior lecturers is naturally formed, supporting each other and inspiring others;* Naturally, the entire teaching team of the organization becomes inter-generational and balanced.<< Implementation >>1. Deeper mapping of the activity centers for seniors in Denmark.2. The internship of the Czech team in Denmark, in Ringköbing Skjern Kommune which brought a significant boost of the inspiration and motivation of each member of the Czech team for the involvement and mentoring in senior volunteering.3. The implementation process of Danish model in the Czech environment through a number of pilot activities with seniors leading to a complex guidebook for other organizations that would like to follow the Czech way.4. The transfer of Czech experience with professional education of seniors to Denmark via an online course and a visit of the Danish team in Elpida and its two branches in Prague. 5. The dissemination of the “Danish model” idea among other pro-senior organizations in the Czech Republic.<< Results >>The internship of the Czech team to the Danish partner (6 employees)The internship of the Danish team to Elpida in the Czech Republic (3 employees)Increasing the competences of 21 members of the Czech Elpida team and 7 employees of 4 other organizations in Czech.Increasing the competences of 8 team members of the Danish partner and 13 workers from 6 other organizations in Denmark.Involvement of 53 senior volunteers as lecturers in Elpida. A methodological guidebook LEKTOREM for sharing good practices. A mini-academy Senior SEFTE increasing the teaching competences of seniors. (12 seniors in a pilot module).A functioning and supportive community of senior volunteers.An e-learning module for senior volunteering on a special platform for older people www.elbot.cz easily reachable all over the CR and a template through which the seniors can almost immediately transfer their knowledge creating a new micro-elearning.Dissemination of ​​the “Danish model” idea among other for-senior organizations (5 in DK + 4 in CR).1 podcast and 7 media outputs."