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Generated: understanding of the rights and resources of senior citizens


Where and when

Amager, Denmark. 09 July to 23 July 2013

Theme and project

Working with the rights of senior citizens empowered participants to act upon violations of these rights in their own communities. This will help create a more just world. Societies engage their senior citizens in different ways with different costs and benefits. The Danish welfare system removes the responsibility of the elder from the families to the state which tends to marginalize them from society. In the IPP we asked: How can society benefit from the resources and potential of senior citizens and how can we ensure that all citizens have their rights and needs met. Participants worked with developing an understanding of the theme which empowered them to act.

By cooperating with the Red Cross they developed the attitudes, skills and knowledge that it takes to design and deliver projects in the areas of senior citizenship.

Partner organization

Participants worked with the local department of the Red Cross in Roskilde, with their Visitor Friends programme. This programme establishes contact between lonely senior citizens and motivated volunteers.

The project took two approaches: one is working with a group of senior volunteers on developing a creative product communicating the resources senior citizens bring to society. The other is visiting and getting to know Danish senior citizens, who are feeling the marginalization themselves to develop an in depth understanding of the problem at hand. Alongside a red cross volunteer IPPers had the chance to develop a relationship with a local user of the service, and so understand the issues they experience in depth.

Participants were interested in getting to know and working with senior citizens. They were able to approach and establish a relation to a diverse group of people. They had an interest your own society on a political and sociological level. They were interested in communicating information in a creative and inspiring way. They were able to cooperate with senior citizens.

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