Pobierz plik - Grundtvig

experiences in various fields that were of interest
to us, such as cultural events, festivals, tourist attractions,
cuisine, shopping, history, etc.
By getting to know the culture of partner
countries, their traditions and customs, history
and everyday life, we exchanged methods of educational
work with students at an older age. For
example, our activity involved organising contests
based on 10 questions asked by individual participating
countries, to which answers were given by
the remaining partner countries. The questions
were usually related to history, sports, culture and
everyday life. Six working meetings were held in
participating countries over the course of project
implementation. The working meetings were
held in the following locations: Gent (Belgium),
Magdeburg (Germany), Getafe (Spain – the suburbs
of Madrid), Kauhava (Finland), Łódź and
Limassol (Cyprus).
Each working meeting comprised a detailed
discussion on the results achieved so far and the
development of an action plan for the next stage.
At the same time, attention was paid that during
such meetings participants could learn as much
as possible about the country they were visiting.
Senior citizens became acquainted with everyday
life, traditions and customs, learnt regional dances
(Cyprus) and did sightseeing in the first capital of
Spain – Toledo. While only a few people (2-3) from
each country were participating in the first meetings,
over 30 people (5-8 from individual country)
arrived to the meeting in Łódź, which attests to an
ever greater interest in the project.
Similarly, interest in the project consistently
grew at our University of the Third Age. Initially,
few people sought access to the project, but
gradually the situation started to change for the
better, students more and more readily participated
in the offered activities. Over the consecutive
years, the number of people willing to improve
their computer skills has greatly increased.
Travelling abroad and meetings with members
of local communities have clearly expanded our
horizons, thanks to which we can understand
other European nations better. It is very unlikely
that those processes would have occurred in other
circumstances.
An important advantage for the participating
organisations was the fact that they learnt the
methods of educational work used by their partners
and gained international experience in this
field.
Despite the obvious geographical, social and
cultural differences, we could easily agree on the
objective of our activity. The positive results of our
cooperation come from the fact that from the beginning
none of us was reaching too high. We
set ourselves realistic goals, which were interesting,
but not extraordinary, as we were afraid that
too high aspirations could discourage both the
students and the staff. The computer skills that
we acquired during the project implementation
helped to retain contacts between project participants
and were conducive to the development of
e-bulletins.
The works produced by learners and teachers
were published on project website. Local media
came to partner meetings, as a result of which
they enjoyed media coverage. In Łódź and Limassol
(Cyprus), local TV stations broadcasted programmes
on Grundtvig meetings, which featured
interviews with project participants.
During the course of the project, we tried to
keep complete photo documentation. Today, we
have seven videos and presentations related to
the project. We have published a songbook of
105