Davide Di Pietro

1. Young and elders: Learning through Volunteering
for social cohesion
Rome – 30th
October 2015

2. Have you ever heard them say…
Junior
Unlike us…
Older generations left us a
messy world, they didnt care
about the new generations
We have few jobs because of elders
staying at work too much
We will not have adequate pensions
because elders only thought about
themselves
Elders are slower
Older people hardly understand the
changing world, so they don’t understand
us
Older people do not know how to use
technologies properly
Senior
Unlike us…
Youth are not committed to change the
world, they are too much involved in
consumerism
Youth are lazy and unwilling to sacrifices
A lot of public money is allocated to youth
needs: we have never had this, we just
worked hard
Youth do not reflect enough before acting
Youth hardly understand that society has
rules that need to be respected
Youth spent too much times on
technological devices

3. How can we cope?
An experience like the ComeON! project showed us the importance
of cooperation between generations
Another possibility for mutual learning and understanding may be
represented by voluntary based initiatives which – if properly
structured may be used as a true educational tool...
Formal? Non formal? Informal?

4. Beware!
Informal Learning is not
always fully intentional

5. Why do people volunteer… what are their intentions?
For myself
Making new experiences
Being satisfied as a human being
Use free time intelligently
Socialize
Learn a true job
Open up possibilities for a future carrier
For the others
Bringing own expertise
Cooperate in own community
Help less fortunate communities
Devote own life for the “Cause”
Help other people
Complement social services

6. The educational features.
Being in a learning process
Volunteering represents a full informal education experience
In which sense we talk about “education”?
What do people learn/teach?
Intercultural Learning – Intergenerational learning
Managing and recognising prejudices and stereotypes
Education to diversity
Development of personal skills
*** Ability to listen to other people
*** Ability to managing conflicts
*** Ability to work in a team
*** ….
The learning process runs on a bilateral basis so it applies to the volunteers but also to
all those who deal with them. People are not always aware of the educational
potentialities of such an experience. This is why it needs to be driven carefully.

7. ...do senior citizens need education?
Senior citizens are educators
Are they ready to deal with a dramatically
fast-changing world?
Don't they need educational support?

8. Lessons learnt from past volunteering projects
Volunteering has a great educational potential – regardless the age, it
is a lifelong learning tool
Volunteering needs to be open to all age groups
Do use volunteering to reinforce ties between citizens and
institutions, for social cohesion and active citizenship
Phenomena such as racism and xenophobia can be tackled through
volunteering
Training is an essential part
You cannot do everything alone: networking at local and national
level is essential.
Volunteering simply shows that none of us is an island

9. European Programmes that may be suitable for
Intergenerational and transnational experiences
 Erasmus Plus -> Strand of adult education: Mobility projects for staff
and learners and Strategic partnership; (E+ National Agencies)
 Creative Europe -> Strands of “cooperation projects” (EACEA)
 Erasmus Plus -> Strand of Youth: European Voluntary Service,
mobility for staff and young people, strategic partnership; (E+
National Agencies)
 Europe for Citizens -> Strands of European Remembrance, Town
twinning and Civil Society projects; (EACEA)
 Rights Equality and Citizenship Programme -> calls on “Non
discriminations”, “Racism, xenophobia and other forms of intolerance
(DG Justice)

10. Thank you!
dipietro.adviser@yahoo.it