Happy Finnish partners in Gaziantep on 14 - 19 April 2013

The oraganizer took really good care of us - Thank you very much!

Even the Governor of Sahinbey was kind enogh to receive us

                                         The blooming trees were beautiful

Portugueses in Ostrawa

Ocober 2012 - 1st meeting in Ostrawa

Amélia is speaking about his city and  its beautiful beaches!

Discussing healthy food

European Fair -Portugal

PORTUGUESE PARTNER

                          

Associação PROSAS, Projecto Sénior de Artes e Saberes de Sines is a Third Age University associated with RUTIS, a network association of Third Age Universities in Portugal. The objectives of our association are: the social integration and cultural promotion of people without professional activities, older than fifty years developing social solidarity, volunteering and social support; informal learning in a life long learning perspective; social inclusion and social participation in cultural, sport and leisure activities; stimulation and sharing solidarity and voluntary practice inside and outside the institution; participation with other organizations in the City Social Net. We have only one employee because we are volunteers and our members are both students and teachers in their own skills. We have no profit purposes .

To avoid exclusion of  seniors we conduct classes such as ICT , language (French, English, Spanish), Portuguese language ( as a basic skills), poetry  and literature , painting, mathematics, history, anthropology, music and  gymnastic . We promote travels, visits and leisure events. We have agreements  with Local Health Service to promote monthly sessions alerting to healthy behaviours, with Évora University to promote scientific divulgence and Town Hall to discuss citizens' questions.

We think we are helping lonely people to socialize and remain active. The eldest member of our association is a ninety- years-old lady and we have several members elder than eighty years of age.

                            

We are the Finnish  partner

KuuRet 55+ is a sub group of the club Kuusankosken Retkeilijät ry. (Kuusankoski Travel and Hiking Club) The club started in Kuusankoski (a former independent town, since 2009 a part of the town of Kouvola) in south-eastern Finland, in 1979. The town of Kouvola is wide in area and mostly rural, e.g. it includes a large National Park.

Kuusankosken Retkeilijät is a member of the Union of Workers’ Travel and Hiking Clubs in Finland, which in its turn is a member of the worldwide Naturfreunde Internationale (NFI). The club aims at encouraging people to take part in activities in our natural environment with regard to ecological viewpoints. Today the club has some 300 members, many of whom are senior citizens. Members of the club help old or disabled people to take part in various activities. The club has been active in various social happenings arranged by our town and other organizations. Participation is based on volunteering.

The program of the club includes giving people interested in outdoor activities information on ecology and history and traditions of the places visited, arranging excursions both in our own town Kouvola with its surroundings and in Lapland as well as cultural excursions, various outdoor activities, travelling abroad at moderate expense and planning and organizing programs for visitors to Finland by using voluntary team work. The activities include project work and offer participants multiple transnational learning possibilities.

In 2006-2008 the club acted as a silent partner in an EU project “Travel Agents 55 + without frontiers”. A network of groups working for similar causes in ten European countries was created during the project. The themes of the project were mobility, voluntary work, lifelong learning and active ageing. After that EU project the club has continued with similar activities. With Grundtvig funding, the club has been the coordinator of a learning partnership project ”European Approach” (2010-2012), arranged a workshop “Many Faces of Finnish Nature Environment” (August 2011).

A senior volunteering project “Taking Care” with a Portuguese partner is taking place Sep 2011 - August 2013. In addition to the Active Senior project our organisation will host a workshop "Excercise and Learn in the Nature Environment" in May 2013.

The KuuRet 55+ group is growing all the time, which is a sign that our goals are good and well accepted.

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Greetings to all project partners from KuuRet 55+ group!

29th - 31st October 2012: Kick off meeting in Ostrava (Czech Republic)

Between 29th and 31st October 2012, we gathered in Ostrava, the Czech Republic, to attend first project meeting, the Kick off meeting. There were 15 people coming from all over the Europe to spend together 3 days of project management work, education, social activities, getting to know each other and the Czech country and Ostrava region as well. All the project partners arrived safe and sound on Sunday, 28^th October. 

1st day

We all met on Monday morning in Harmony Club Hotel. Sedukon, o.p.s. welcomed all the participants and then introduced each other. After a short discussion and according to suggestions of the partners, we decided to change a schedule of meeting and move a morning program to the afternoon. We discussed the project dissemination strategy, we created the blog www.activesenior2012.blogspot.com. We set the timetable of the project meetings and then we arranged the European Fair. Each partner brought local products and specialties from local cuisine and shared them with partner organizations to spread knowledge of partner countries culture. 

2nd day

Next day, the morning activities were divided into several parts. We started with two workshops: “How to reach the longevity”, led by experts from Club of Health from Ostrava; and “Importance of family support for people changing their lifestyle habits” led by two local nutritional counselors. At the end, partners split into two groups to share knowledge and experiences from their countries about healthy eating habits. We visited Landek park museum in the afternoon. We all went down there and saw the underground exposition in cultural monument in former Anselm mine and we visited the exposition of mining rescue services as well. Partners could learn about heavy industry and mining which are so specific for the Moravia – Silesian region. 

3rd day

Last day, Sedukon presented the senior education system in the Czech Republic and in the afternoon, we visited University of 3^rd Age in Ostrava, where we met Mrs. Polášková, the main secretary of University of Third Age of VŠB – Technical University of Ostrava. She invited us to a Geology Pavilion where we could see the collection of minerals from all around the world collected by teachers and students from Faculty of Mining and Geology. It was a last part of the kick off meeting program. All partners said their goodbyes and started to prepare to leave the Czech Republic.

Sumary of our Grundtvig Learning Partnerships  Project- «Active Body + Active Mind= Healthy Senior»

Prospective partners are adult education organizations from Poland, Czech Republic, Finland, Greece, Portugal, Slovakia and Turkey, which focus on 50+ learners. The Partnership we want to form meets the expectations of the Active Aging Year 2012  as it is prepared by seniors and for seniors . The partners coordinate educational activities for their  50+ members and wider public and want to exchange experience and learn from each other about various aspects of senior citizens’ physical and mental well-being (art, music, sports, eating habits, alternative medicine, mental disorders in seniors but also volunteering activities as part of seniors’ social inclusion .

To start with each participating institution will identify through a questionnaire learners who are willing to participate in this project before, during and after mobilities.
Project activities will consist of:
• home education
Since the project aims at people who are no longer within formal education, we will start English language course and ICT course to improve their communication skills in a foreign language and in writing e-mails, etc. for their easy communication
• mobilities to partner countries
• organization of hosting our project partners: program, presentation on adult education in their country, visit to a local adult education institution, workshop, cultural visit, evaluation of the mobility.
Partners will equally share project tasks and disseminate results via their websites, local press and blog created for the learners as forum for exchange of ideas, cooking recipes, descriptions of activities and exercises. Finally the project will be described on the European Shared Treasure forum.

 

New image!!