Jointly organised by Slovenian Third Age University and  the local Cultural Centre,the 4^th International Festival of Knowledge and Culture in lLter Life  took place in Šmarje pri Jelšah, a Slovenian country town. Through the day the audience followed the programme staging results of exploratory learning of older people that shape local identity and support the development of cultural tourism all over Slovenia, but also in Croatia and Austria the two neighbouring countries. Old tales of the region were collected and acted out, EU projects proved to have brought new educational and cultural topics into older adult education. The results of My story, 18 summers, RefugeesIn , Silver Code, P3AE  were presented.  Šmarje pri Jelšah is known for its baroque church etc. Study tours were organised. Was presented also Bread in the past and present, a sociological, economic, political and cultural study of bread, a publication originally prepared by a group of U3A’s students of journalism  for the DANET’s project Tastes of the Danube.

The ILEU office in Ulm started in November 2016 the action “Christmas Packages along the Danube” and invites all interested partners to take part to it. Packages in the size of a shoe box will be prepared and sent to other partners from three different Danube countries. They should contain Christmas cookies (sweet bread) and recipes, descriptions of Christmas customs and information about the own group (who we are) in the native language and in English.

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In May 2016 the University in Reims hold the world conference on “History and Development of the UTA in the world” and hosted participants from the AIUTA International Association. The conference was combined with the AIUTA98^th Governing Board meeting and AIUTA General Assembly. During the last year AIUTA approved the application for the membership from National University of the Third Age in Sofia, Bulgaria, From U3A in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia, Tomsk State University U3A, Russia and A Coruna Senior University in Spain.

The AIUTA 99^th Governing Board meeting and International Conference was organised from 10^th to 12^th October 2016 in Osaka. The theme of the conference was “U3As Linking the World – Active & Healthy Ageing & Intergenerational Cooperation”.

Program of the conference focused on many different topics with the presentations of Mr. François Vellas on behalf of AIUTA, Mrs. Rhonda Weston on behalf of Asia Pacific Aliance, Mrs. Akiko Tsukatani on behalf of Age Concern Japan and Japan’s U3A Federation, Mrs. Wang Younong & Mrs. Zhong Haoling, China Association of the Universities for the Aged, Mrs. Nadežda Hrapkova, Comenius University, Bratislava, Slovakia, Mr. Hans Kristjan Gudmundsson, U3A Reykjavik; Mrs. Nelly del Forno, U3A Lignano Sabbiadoro Italy;, Mr. Armoogum Parsuramen, U3A Mauritius; Mr. Carlos Santos, Azores University, Portugal and many others. Panel discussion have had the panellists from France, Australia, Mauritius and Slovakia with the facilitator Rhonda Weston (Australia) on“U3A co-operation world-wide“. The organisers from Osaka U3A and Asia Pacific Alliance offered the participants after the conference trip to Kyoto and meeting with the elderly students.

Next AIUTA events:

The 100^th AIUTA GB meeting in Bratislava (Slovakia) May 2017; 101^st AIUTA GB meeting La Mesa Bogotá (Colombia) November 2017; 102^nd AIUTA GB in Barcelona (Spain) June 2018; 103^rd AIUTA GB Port Louis (Mauritius) October 2018. Additional proposals for the presentations of AIUTA have been agreed by the president prof. François Vellas for the fair of Seniors Art Expo and Senior Tourism 2016 – 2018. The 100^th AIUTA GB meeting is going to be held in Bratislava (Slovakia) at Comenius University on 18^th May 2017. The meeting will be combined with the conference on theme “Equal opportunities for learning of the elderly” on 19^th May 2017 and cultural trip on 20^th May 2017.

PhDr. Nadežda Hrapková, PhD.

AIUTA Deputy Treasurer

RefugeesIn  is being developed as an ERASMUS+ key activity 2 project co-funded by European Union and coordinated by AidLearn, Lisbon.

The project is a natural continuation of the finished CINAGE, European film for active ageing project. In current social circumstances and using the analogy approach, the CINAGE partners got an inspiration for the RefugeesIn.

The analogy could not be clearer since in our societies older people are approached through stereotypes and so are refugees. Stereotypes being handy, developing our own standpoints and attitudes does not seem to be needed since it is so easy to believe and repeat what is told and may be heard around us. It is safe to remain within »the conceptual tunnel« ( cf. Boris Cyrulnik), abiding by what our cultural or social group says, missing checking the validity of the words heard, looking upon refugees through the prism of either negative or positive stereotypes. In the absence of reasonning, we go on nurturing our fear of changes.

Between Europe and the Islamic world- the world of refugees- there has been a rich and complicated history of conquests and defeats, re-conquests and diplomacy, alliances, trading, translating, transferring technology, but also imitating arts and culture. These contacts have impacted the history of European and Muslim nations. The images of certain Islamic heroes spur the imagination of the Europeans,   preventing them from understanding the Islamic world which has contributed to Europe’s consolidating its own identity.

What: In the project partners and the target learning audiences will learn how to write scenarios, directi and edit documentary films using archive sources, transmitting the truth stripped of propaganda, passing on the truth, be it only one single truth, the truth of the author of the film.

Methods: partner meetings, focus groups, a course on making documentaries and understanding the refugees’ issues, conferences, round tables, radio programmes, articles on who refugees are and how they get included in our culture and how we get included in theirs.

Project results: a course book, a guide for trainers, documentary films

Contract Number 2016-1-PT01-KA204-022983

Duration: from Niovember the 1st. 2016 to December the 31st 2018

Information:

Maria Helena Antunes

AidLearn, Consultoria em Recursos Humanos, Lda

Rua Frederico George, 31B, 1600-012 Lisboa, Portugal

Karina Sirk, Dušana Findeisen

Slovenska univerza za tretje življenjsko obdobje, združenje za izobraževanje in družbeno vključenost

Poljanska cesta 6, 1000 Ljubljana

Tel. 00386(0)14332090

info@univerzatri.si

dusana.findeisen@guest.arnes.si

Slovenian Federation of Societies of Pensioners hosted the annual EURAG conference in Ljubljana. The topic of the conference was very topical and timely. It was about organisations of older people and for older people and their effectiveness in society. Older people still suffer from socio-economic injustice (in Latvia they have a very low pension in Israel several million people are without any pension) and they suffer from injustice on the cultural and symbolic level (ageism). Nevertheless, in the times of recession and social transformation, older people’s issues and their cooperation with other generations are attracting less attention and our organisations have to be even more vigilant and active to keep focus on older people’s abilities and challenges. Not only older people experience social transformation and therefore EURAG’s (and our) focus is to be shifted towards life span ageing and life span approaches to ageing. Speakers at the conference underlined that older people are not (at least the majority of them) in the need of help. They have a lot to give and this should be made possible through policies and different organisations etc. EURAG particularly appreciates its bonds with Social Platform which is concerned with different social groups.
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