AFEdemy and its partners from Poland, Croatia and Portugal have been working hard on the first part of project SAVE (Seniors’ Adaptation to the Virtual Environment). The aim of this project is to increase the activity of seniors through art, creativity, and culture, and to provide inspiration to people involved in the activation of seniors. Research has shown that art can improve overall health and well-being. Art can help people find social contacts, it can challenge the mind, lead to feelings of empowerment, aid in letting go of problems, and most importantly: it can be fun. You can find more information on the project SAVE here.
The first deliverable of the project will be an e-course for older citizens, that will give inspiration and good practice examples for creating, finding, and sharing art online, as well as teach the necessary skills and provide the necessary tools for doing so. The course will consist of five modules; module 1 is an introduction to how to use the platform. Module 2 is about how to use the internet to find and share interesting art projects, groups, or like-minded people. Module 3 will give some examples of IT tools that (aspiring) artists can use to create or share art online. Module 4 will show good practice examples of ‘activation through art’ for senior citizens. This includes projects, events and activities in which older people are motivated to participate in making or viewing different forms of art. This can be visual arts, but also music, dance, theatre, photography, video, spoken word, and more. Lastly, module 5 will cover the topic of citizen journalism and the use of the internet to share your own story.
Apart from the e-course, a 15-minute video will be made on the same topics. Participants from all four partner countries have been interviewed about their ideas and views. From the Netherlands, Theo Sanders will talk about the difficulties he runs into when using digital tools. You can find a link to the video on the AFEdemy website as soon as it is available. Stay tuned for more news soon!