Elder's Solidarity in Local Communities-GRU-11-GIVE 12-DJ-IT

The project provided solidarity among elders in our communities through the active participation of volunteers of our organizations. Seniors volunteers from Italy and Romania were engaged in volunteering activities, acquired knowledge and experiences, volunteering in a different country, within a different cultural framework. They learned through interactive methods and approaches in dealing with people of different nationalities, backgrounds, with special needs, that need to be helped, in the benefit of our communities of Messina and Craiova. Both groups of Senior volunteers were engaged without any material benefit, but  they got new experience, knowledge on customs, traditions, languages, family’ events, religious ceremonies, discovering similarities and differences, active involved in community life. 12 volunteers, Italians and Romanian seniors volunteered, together with other local volunteers in the benefit of disadvantaged persons, improving cooperation with local authority, being encouraged to stay active, dealing on the health benefits of herbs and healthy food, having the opportunity to use local products and to cook traditional food from both countries.

Presentation of ’The University of third Age’’ -U3A-Coordinator of GRU-13-GIVE-14-DJ-IT

‘’The University of third Age’’ -U3A is a non profit association  whose members  are  almost or retired  people; as they are  in their  later  years of life, after work and family responsibilities have lessened, they  are willing  to teach, learn, adapt and share their wisdom, just for the satisfaction that it brings.

U3A members are not required any qualifications to join the association and no certificates or accreditation are awarded. They need to be motivated, enthusiast to get involved in volunteering activities in the benefit of community, run and choose the activities as decided by a committee elected by their members every year.

The U3A association started in Tolosa in 1973. Then a group of volunteers from Turin set up the first university of the third age in Italy.

Nowadays there 320 U3A groups both from the north to the south of Italy as well as all over the world. In  Noto it was started in 1991.

 ’The University of third Age is an important association for its members, who otherwise would feel cut off from real life, as all of them are retired people, but wiling to give back, use their knowledge, experiences, enthusiasm, for less fortunate ones.

All the members of this organization are willing to participate to their town life in an active way. Indeed, one of the main aims of the organization is promoting solidarity and integration of disadvantaged people to avoid any form of discrimination or marginalization.

 Our association applies healthy ageing strategies to create the conditions and opportunities for people to have regular physical activity, healthy diets, social relations, participation in meaningful activities and financial security. On local level we are developing educational activities in cooperation with different institutions, schools, high schools, association for adults, Special services for aged people, volunteering services, as A.V.O ( Associazione Volontari Ospedalieri), AVIS (Associazione Volontari Italiani Sangue), Casa di  cura "Padre Pio"– Noto, and PROTEZIONE  CIVILE- sez. di Noto.

Some of the activities run at U3A in Noto are :

- foreign languages, ICT  courses for adults 

- naturist, healthy diets, role of herb in curing diseases, cooking classes,

- artistic activities: theatre, drama classes as amateurs, choir, painting lab, working masks;

- physical Education  classes for adults,

- special cultural events, carnivals, festivals,

- promotion campaigns of volunteering activities in the benefit of disadvantaged people on local community.

’The University of third Age is very active in Noto, a town south east of Sicily. It is UNESCO Heritage and it is a place with lots of baroque monuments famous all over the world; indeed, lots of tourists come to visit the town. Nowadays it is well linked to  the nearest airport which is in Catania by a motorway. However, though tourism should be the main activity for the local people because no other activity is possible for them making a living, yet, there is a lot to do in order to reduce unemployment which is quite a serious problem at the moment. 

In Noto there is also a large community of immigrants, different nationalities also Romanians who needed to be helped in order to get them integrated to the local community.

 Therefore,  in spite of the  good potentialities,  the local inhabitants still have to  become aware of  the  opportunities of their town and area  because  they need to get  an open minded attitude and more  flexibility, tolerant, which could be developed if they  were  given  the chance  to  get in touch with people from other countries.

They also need to learn a foreign language such as English for better access to information and new technology, to feel more integrated as European citizens.

Its aims are:

 -to help its members to learn a foreign language and acquire communicative skills through the use of multimedia.

-to improve contacts between different generations and ensure that both the young people and the senior citizens can benefit from these contact.

-to reduce prejudice between the groups by promoting intergenerational and multicultural respect, equality and solidarity between gender and aged.

- to exchanges one’s experiences  with peers  to enrich themselves and the others .

- to create and maintain the conditions under which humans and nature can exist in productive harmony, that permit fulfilling the social, economic and other requirements of present and future generations.

- to promote the value of cultural diversity, focused on national culture, history, photography, national habits and tradition, also encouraging gardening, handcrafts (wood work, leather work, knitting and embroidery, masks, ceramics, silk painting etc.), music, dances, sport events etc. as well as cooking some traditional dishes, discovering a new active, healthy stile life.  

Presentation of cultural association, Orizont Cultural T,

‘’ ORIZONT CULTURAL T ‘’-is non for profit , cultural association, ONG. 

   City: Craiova. 

   Country: Romania. 

   President: Rodica Miala

 Presentation: ‘’Cultural Horizon T’’ was opened in 2006, it was built by trainers and Methodists with great experience in adult education programs.

We opened the association as a result of our implication in adult education program under Grundtvig.

 We developed important activities in the benefit of disadvantaged persons, on local, regional, national, European level.

 Our association is working in order to promote the European mobility and conscious citizenship of people, and is appreciated for its active national and European participation.

The main aims are:

- to promote cultural heritage, traditions and customs, to adapt the adults abilities and knowledge to empower them as European active citizens,

-to create a society in which the volunteers, young and people 50+, retired persons or almost, to be involved as volunteers in non-profit activities as a form of informal learning activity in the benefit of community. 

Target groups: adults, seniors, citizens,

-persons that need to be informed, to adapt their abilities for a better integration in community life.

Add caption

We focus on educating members of our community by diminishing vulnerability of population groups, making a contribution to adapt to or cope with the change for Europe Future and stability.

  Grundtvig Senior Volunteering Project is a great opportunity of sharing experience, best practice examples and widening the volunteering process with new teaching methods, a chance to stimulate initiative, communication on topics of interest using foreign languages, new innovative technology and to develop critical thinking by comparing different way of implication of seniors as volunteers active implicated in cultural life of community also abroad, as European Active citizens. 

Expertise: 

Comenius Regio-‘’Mainstream EU Subjects into School Curricula’s in Lousada and Craiova’’,  

The Voice of European Seniors - GRU-09-GIVE-5-DJ-PT

Audiovisual languages in social inclusion programmes for Disadvantages Young Adults GRU-09-P-LP-121-DJ-CY

European Seniors exchange experience from a social café '' GRU-10-GIVE-6-DJ-DK

Mainstream of Integrating Adults through -Soul of the Music Energy - GRU-10-P-LP-57-DJ-TR

Elder's solidarity in Local Communities- GRU-11-GIVE-12-DJ-IT

Grundtvig European Conference on Adult Volunteering,- GRU-11-VISA-27-DJ-PL

ACTIV EU (Active  European Citizens  through volunteering-GRU-13-GIVE-14-DJ-IT