Social Network for the Promotion of Participation in the Society of Older Individuals in the Municipality of Ioannina- Ioannina Silver Community Action Network
Demographic aging is one of the main issues facing all EU countries are facing, due to which the composition of the age pyramid is being transformed and many social and economic sectors are being affected. Greece is the second country with the oldest population in Europe, with a population of 65+ 21.5%, which is expected to increase in the coming years.
Old age is associated with the occurrence of physical and psychosocial problems associated with the transition from the labor market to retirement and social isolation, resulting in negative impact on quality of life. According to Eurostat, the quality of life in Greece for the elderly is very low compared to the EU-28 average. Today, the goal of public policy is to create a framework for strengthening public participation, in which the individual will remain active, with a good quality of life and prosperity, through participatory and voluntary activities.
The aim of the project is to mobilize and strengthen the participation of older people in the public, in Ioannina, for the promotion of volunteering, the feedback of political participation and commitment and the acceleration of the creation of new social capital to strengthen public intervention and action. The project’s activities, on one hand, concern the creation of an electronic platform and a new volunteer group for older people as a result of a “bottom-up” social process that will support and facilitate socialization, public consultation, action and participation of older citizens in public affairs, on the other hand with actions of information, mobilization and awareness of the local population, training of volunteers, information and awareness of executives of local bodies and organizations towards the special needs of the elderly and, finally, development of a pilot action, as a good practice , for the training and consolidation of the volunteer spirit.
The project is directly aimed at older people, executives of local agencies and organizations and the local community as a whole S.P.R.I. is the organization implementing project and will operate in close relationship with the Norwegian organization “The University College for Green Development” to transfer experience, know-how and good practices in issues related in information and awareness raising to local executives.
