Intergenerational Learning in Europe – Policies, Programmes ...

2. The EAGLE Project• EAGLE Advisory Committee & Working Groups – face-tofaceand partly virtual ‘Communities of Practice’ includingthe European Commission, policy makers, research communities,experts and practitioners (http://www.eagleproject.eu/contact-info);• Intergenerational Learning in Europe – Policies, Programmes& Practical Guidance – a synthetic final projectreport and final overview on all EAGLE activities (http://www.eagle-project.eu/welcome-to-eagle/final-report).EAGLE identified that intergenerational learning was importantbecause of a number of changes in our societies that include:• Demographic change, the ageing society and workforce;ElementaryIntergenerationalDeathRetirementUnemploymentLearningformal nonformal informal• Changing economic, insurance and welfare patterns;• Increasing economic disparities;• Shift from full- to part-time and multiple employment;• Shift from an industrial to a Knowledge Society;• Individualised/atomised societies, flexible lifestyles andchanging biographies, from individuals to ‘multividuals’;• Weakening traditional family structures and the growth ofsingle households, the social isolation of the elderly;• Economic need for mobility and flexibility, ‘modern nomads’.EAGLE sees intergenerational learning as offering a numberof benefits to society, individuals and communities. Theseinclude:• Uniting segregated generations andbuilding better understanding betweengenerations;• Encouraging active citizenship andsocial participation;• Encouraging cross-generational working;• Sharing societal and professional resources,tacit and explicit knowledgeamong generations;• Challenging social problems crossgenerationally;lifelong • Supporting Lifelong and LifewideLearning;• Maintaining & building human andsocial capital simultaneously.BirthlifewideFigure 1: Intergenerational Learning as an integralpart of Lifelong & Lifewide Learning(after Boström, A.-K., 2003)6