Dit is het verslag van de seminar die de afsluiting vormde van een eerste fase van het Futeurope-projekt.

Download het verslag hier of na het voorwoord. (please use download option at bottom of text)

Voorwoord

Het seminar waarvan dit verslag de neerslag is, vormde de afsluiting van een eerste fase van het Futeurope-projekt. Het Futeurope-projekt is een internationaal projekt van en voor senioren waarin groepen 55+’ers uit verschillende Europese landen met elkaar discussiëren over zaken die hen bezighouden. De discussies vinden plaats in zogenaamde studiekringen. Een studiekring is een ‘zichzelf organiserende’ gespreksgroep van zo’n 8 à 12 personen. Onderwerpen waarover men met elkaar spreekt zijn alledaagse dingen zoals wonen, werk en vrije tijd, openbaar vervoer, zorg en gezondheidszorg, enz. Onderlinge uitwisseling vindt plaats via een website en door bij elkaar op bezoek te gaan.

Bij de voorbereiding van dit seminar is lang nagedacht over de inhoud ervan. We vonden dat ‘leren’ aan de orde moest komen, maar niet alleen het leren in ‘enge’ zin, zoals het leren in een cursus of op school. We wilden juist ook aandacht besteden aan de onderwerpen en situaties in het kader waarvan de ‘doorsnee’ senior leert. Dat wil zeggen onderwerpen en situaties van alledag, zoals die ook in de studiekringdiscussies aan de orde zijn gekomen. En we wilden ook voorkomen dat het een ‘alleen-maar-luisteren’-bijeenkomst zou worden. Daarom dus niet alleen ’sprekers’, maar ook een workshop, zodat deelnemers zelf met de diverse onderwerpen aan de slag konden gaan.

Aan het seminar is deelgenomen door een kleine tachtig personen. Daaronder waren onder meer deelnemers aan het Futeurope-projekt uit Hongarije, Engeland en Finland. Dat internationale karakter noopte tot het gebruik van het Engels naast het Nederlands als ‘conferentie-taal’. Ook mede dank zij de inzet van vrijwilligers-tolken hebben de deelnemers elkaar over en weer goed kunnen verstaan. Toch heeft dit aspect wel nog eens de aandacht gevestigd op het ontbreken van een gemeenschappelijke taal als communicatie-medium binnen de Europese Unie. Daar toch naar te streven is een van de aanbevelingen die we op basis van het seminar aan ‘Brussel’ zullen melden.

Natuurlijk zijn er meer zaken die we namens de deelnemers aan het seminar aan de EU willen doorgeven. De workshop en de plenaire discussie hebben daarvoor heel veel materiaal aangeleverd. Een eerste proeve daarvan is aan het eind van het seminar al overhandigd aan René Cuperus, vertegenwoordiger van de Wiardi Beckman Stichting in Europa en toen nog kandidaat-lid voor het Europees Parlement. Hoewel zijn lidmaatschap uiteindelijk niet is doorgegaan hebben zijn kontakten in Brussel daaronder niet geleden. Een overzicht van alle aanbevelingen die wij inmiddels via hem aan de EU hebben gezonden vindt u op de volgende bladzijde en verderop in dit verslag.

Het doel van het Futeurope-projekt was en is senioren uit verschillende Europese landen een kans te bieden elkaar en ook elkaars levensomstandigheden beter te leren kennen. Met als achterliggende gedachte dat het elkaar kennen en begrijpen meewerkt aan het tot stand brengen van een vreedzaam en veilig Europa. Wij denken dat het projekt en het seminar op bescheiden wijze aan die doelstelling hebben bijgedragen.

De eerste fase van Futeurope is nu afgesloten. Maar aan een vervolg, met meer partner-landen en meer senioren, wordt intussen al weer gewerkt. Of dat uiteindelijk doorgang zal vinden hangt, zoals zoveel tegenwoordig, van ‘Brussel’ af.
Rest ons iedereen die heeft deelgenomen aan het seminar, aan de Futeurope-studiekringen en allen die hebben meegewerkt aan de organisatie en uitvoering van het seminar heel hartelijk te bedanken voor hun bijdragen. En dat geldt niet in de laatste plaats het seniorenkoor Toonkunst Plus voor hun magnifieke optreden en hun vertolking van de ‘Ode to Seniors’!

Many thanks!, kiitoksia paljon!, köszönöm szépen!, hartelijk dank!
Namens Futeurope, Henri Braakenburg, projekt-coórdinator.

Download hier het volledige verslag!

Present:
Edward Kettlewell (ARDs 50+ Forum, U.K.), Margaret Kettlewell (ARDs 50+ Forum, U.K.), Tuula Ilvonen (Kiuruvesi, Finland), Ann Marie Homar (Belper 50+ Forum, U.K.), Jackie Cox (Belper 50+ Forum, U.K.), Mariana Rantala (Kiuruvesi, Finland), Leena Leskinen (Kiuruvesi, Finland), Leena Penttinen (Kiuruvesi, Finland), Szabor György (Debrecen, Hungary), Eva Naggné (Debrecen, Hungary), Legoza Judit (Debrecen, Hungary), Borsos Antalné (Debrecen, Hungary), Trevor Steed (ARDs 50+ Forum, U.K.), Jan Colombo (ARDs 50+ Forum U.K.), Mike Smith (Heanor 50+ Forum, U.K.), Ken Tucker (Heanor 50+ Forum, U.K.), Glenys Tucker (Heanor 50+ Forum, U.K.), Tracey Sims (Amber Valley CVS, Ripley, U.K.), Ridie Vos (Amersfoort, The Netherlands), Henri Braakenburg (Amersfoort, The Netherlands), Lenie Nebbeling (Amersfoort, The Netherlands), Coenraad van Baggum (Amersfoort, The Netherlands), Angela Quinn (Amber Valley CVS, Ripley, U.K.)

Agenda:
1.Opening and welcome: Angela Quinn of Amber Valley CVS welcomes all those present and then hands over the chair to Henri Braakenburg, Futeurope project coordinator.

2.Who is who?: Every person present (see above) briefly introduces her/himself.

3.Update report per group:
> Amber Valley, England (U.K.):
> Debrecen, Hungary:
> Kiuruvesi, Finland:
The group has had a meeting every week.
> Amersfoort, The Netherlands:
The group had six meetings since Debrecen. Topics that have been discussed were: evaluation of the Debrecen meeting in October, a lecture held by the chairman of the Amersfoort Advisory Council of the Elderly, the Finnish school system (paper sent by Seppo Kaikkonen, Kiuruvesi), lifelong learning (paper by Johan Riemersma, Amersfoort), the crises and its importance for work, education and retirement, physical training for seniors (request from Amber Valley), preview of the visit to Amber Valley, seniors who want to remain active in the working process (paper by Coenraad van Baggum, Amersfoort).
The chair was shared by the study circle participants: every meeting another group member prepared the agenda and chaired the discussion.
In November most group members participated in a local seminar on care, welfare and education for seniors in Amersfoort, organized by the city council. Two members were invited to join a meeting in Maastricht, organized by the National Agencies of U.K., Flanders (Belgium), Germany and the Netherlands on the new Grundtvig Senior Volunteers Exchange programme (SVP).

4.Website and forums: The website and the forums are meant as very important tools for communication for the study circle groups in between the exchange visits. The website is also the Futeurope ‘business card’ to the outside world. It is therefore important that these tools work without too many complications. Those who still face problems when they try to get logged in to the website should inform their local coordinator who in turn may contact the project coordinator or the webmaster directly. Some changes in the home page in order to simplify its use (less categories and headings) will be implemented by the webmaster in the near future.
All study circle groups are invited to intensify their use of the forum pages - both the national one and the general forum in English. One should send a message to the project coordinator if any problems occur.

5.Good practice guide and hand out: This publication is meant to serve as a guidebook for those outside Futeurope who would like to start up a study circle on their own and as a ‘book of reference’ for those who want to know more about Futeurope, its participants and its results. It will consist of three parts: Part I will be a methodical description of the Futeurope study circle, Part II will give a summary of topics that were discussed while in Part III one will find information about the Futeurope participants, the exchange visits and some relevant, short articles.
Trevor and Jan have already started building a framework in order to make a comparison between the four countries on various aspects of importance for senior citizens. Each local coordinator has received a copy of the framework on disc. Once completed the framework or table can be incorporated in the Part II of the guide book. To get all the data needed plus a text the local coordinators have each chosen two aspects to be further elaborated by the groups (this was done in the coordinators meeting):

FIN:
values and norms
health & wellbeing
HU:
mobility, transport for seniors
seniors as volunteers
NL:
retirement (age, conditions, allowances, etc.)
education & learning for/of senior citizens
UK:
housing for seniors
care & care provisions for seniors (family support, home help, care homes, nursery homes, etc.)

It is hoped that the groups agree with this division. Per aspect or theme 1 - 1,5 pages of text would be appropriate. This means that summaries rather than extensive papers are needed. At the end of Part II we will then insert the ’spreadsheet’ made by Trevor and Jan.
To fill in Part III a digital portrait picture plus a very brief CV will be welcomed from each study circle participant. Participants are also requested to briefly comment on their visits to the other study circles and to send in illustrative pictures.

6.The meeting in Amersfoort: The duration of the meeting will be three days (June 2 - June 6). The programme will consist of visits to some care institutions for seniors, a seniors housing community, some (short) lectures and a seminar on ‘education by and for senior citizens’ on Friday, June 5. Touristic elements will not be forgotten.
It is important that the organizers know how many persons from each study circle will join the meeting in Amersfoort soon and whether they would like to stay in private homes (with Amersfoort study circle members) or in a hotel. The local coordinators are requested to send this information to Amersfoort as soon as possible.
Intermezzo:
It was decided that item 7 was to be discussed in the afternoon at the The Glebe Community Centre (see underneath). The chairman therefore closed the morning session of the meeting at 11.15 hrs, with thanks to the local organizers and the care takers of the Church hall for their hospitality.

7.Discussion: The topic ‘Seniors who want to remain active in the working process’, a paper by Coenraad van Baggum, was discussed in the afternoon at the The Glebe Community Centre in Crich. To focus the discussion Coenraad had drawn up some theses. During the discussion, which was chaired by the project coordinator, it became apparent that not one answer would be satisfactory for all: there were different points of view, depending on country, position of the speaker, personal circumstances and experiences, thus leading to different conclusions or no conclusion at all.
It was therefore agreed that ‘(the age of) retirement’ will be one of the aspects which will be worked out in more detail for the guide book (see under 5 above).

8.Closure: The chairman closed the meeting around 16.15 hrs. with thanks to everyone for the contributions made to the discussion and to the other items on the agenda.

Amersfoort, April 2nd 2009 / Henri Braakenburg

Present:
Judit Legoza (HU), Leena Penttinen (FIN), Angela Quinn (UK), Adele Atkinson (UK), Lynn Allison (UK), Henri Braakenburg (NL).

Agenda:
1.Report Debrecen: The report of the Debrecen coordinators’ meeting (October 8, 2008) was approved.

2.Good practice guide and hand out: Henri has drawn up a first draft for the text of Part I of the hand out. Everyone is invited to comment on this draft in the next few weeks. A division of tasks was made for Part II (’themes discussed’):

FIN:
values and norms
health & wellbeing
HU:
mobility, transport for seniors
seniors as volunteers
NL:
retirement (age, conditions, allowances, etc.)
education & learning for/of senior citizens
UK:
housing for seniors
care & care provisions for seniors (family support, home help, care homes, nursery homes, etc.)

Per theme 1 - 1,5 pages of text would be appropriate. This means that we need summaries rather than extensive papers. At the end of Part II we will then insert the ’spreadsheet’ made by Trevor and Jan.
Per country a study circle participant who visited one of the other countries will be invited to give a brief impression of that visit. These impressions will be added to Part III (may I suggest: FIN on UK, NL on HU, HU on FIN, UK on NL -Henri-).
For Part III it will also be welcomed if a portrait could be collected of each study circle participant, his/her E-mail address -if any- plus a very, very brief CV (who are you, why did you join the Futeurope study circle?). Finally, any article or brief paper that is of interest in relation to the themes or the study circle concept, will also be welcome.
The half of May, i.e. May 15, is the very dead deadline for all comments and contributions!!

3.Publicity: An article on the Futeurope visit to Amber Valley will be published in a local newspaper; there will also be an interview held. Hopefully attention to the visit will also be paid in local newspapers in Kiuruvesi and Amersfoort. The Debrecen visit was in the news on their local radio.

4.Website and forum: All coordinators will encourage the Futeurope participants to use the website and forum more frequently. Coordinators may also insert interesting links to other websites inland or abroad, provided that the linked sites have an English page. Henri will contact the webmaster to make a few changes in the categories on the home page. Henri should also be informed if any further problems would occur.

5.Visit to Amersfoort: The preparations by the Amersfoort study circle for the visit to The Netherlands in June are in full progress. The duration of the visit is three days, i.e. 2nd June (Tuesday, arrival) - 6th June (Saturday, departure). On Friday 5th June a seminar is scheduled on ‘education by/for senior citizens’ (from 09.30 - 16.00 hrs).
All partners should send their information about the number of visiting participants to Henri as soon as possible, preferably before April 4th. Also information is needed about any preferences re accommodation: with Amersfoort study circle members in their private homes or in a hotel.
Henri will send information about the costs for accommodation etc.

6.Finances: No comments.

7.Towards a continued project?: Henri has made some inquiries regarding a so called multilateral project which could probably become an ‘in depth’ continuation of the present project. I.e.: more methodical input and output, seminars, trainings, extra local study circles, etc. Advantage would be that investments in labour might also be subsidized. Twenty five percent of all costs however must be paid by the partners. Maximum grant: EUR 300.000, maximum duration: 3 years.
Objectives and eligible beneficiaries seem to match with the present partners in the Futeurope project. Applications for such a multilateral project should be made in Brussels with the LLP headquarters.
The deadline for applications is in February next year. Thus there will be ample time for further considerations and drawing up a project plan. Partners agree that they will check with their respective National Agency whether they will be considered eligible for application. Further discussion in June in Amersfoort.
Information can be found in the EU ‘LLP Guide 2009′, parts I (page 14,15), II (page 13,14) and III (File nr 49, pages 1-3).

8.Any other matter: EU has launched a new bi-lateral Grundtvig programme for exchange of seniors who are active as volunteer: 3 - 8 weeks accommodation plus travel costs will be remunerated.

9.Closure: Meeting was closed around 19:30 hrs.

April 1st, 2009 / Henri Braakenburg