News

The nine issue of GreenerAge newsletter is now available!Read newsletter here!

It is with utmost pleasure we announce that our platform GreenerAge Land has officially been launched! Our project aimed to create an accessible digital literacy platform for citizens aged 55 and above. This gamification interactive learning platform’s objective is to empower older citizens with digital skills and competencies, and to enhance their climate change literacy, adoption of sustainable behaviours, and active citizenship. This tool can be of use to adult trainers, policymakers, and organizations. GreenerAge Land is an interactive platform that provides information about multiple themes related to environmental change. Climate change literacy is essential in empowering citizens to understand its background, its consequences, and which practical solutions can be implemented. It not only helps in assessing what can be done to prevent and/or decelerate climate change but it also promotes critical thinking skills! This platform also provides knowledge about how to increase recycling knowledge behaviours, sustainable food consumption, sustainable water consumption, sustainable mobility choices, sustainable energy consumption, and sustainable living at home. GreenerAge Land offers an informative and interactive course for each one of these topics. You can start learning about each category through text, videos, and pictures. We also provide additional information about each topic in case the readers desire to learn even further! After learning the selected information, users can also test their knowledge with a quiz, and choose the difficulty level that suits them best, in addition to practices on an individual or community level. GreenerAge Land also recommends some inspirational sustainable stories and practices related to each topic, as well as supporting digital tools to enhance and support digital skills! To start learning, the reader can either create their own account or enter as a guest. Creating an account grants you access to your personal dashboard where you can check your training areas and badges accomplished! Please visit our platform to learn more!

One other outcome developed by the GreenerAge project was a policy booklet. This contains recommendations based on desk research and on 15 interviews with policy-makers, environmental associations, and activists, across the five partner countries. This booklet aims to inform stakeholders and policymakers to rethink their policies for climate change. GreenerAge focuses on the valuable assets and role of citizens 55+, that can contribute to a greener planet. Their qualities and active citizenship must be considered while approaching new legal and governmental policies. The GreenerAge project focuses its recommendations on the five thematic areas regarding sustainability, namely sustainable transportation and mobility, sustainable water consumption, recycling, sustainable energy consumption, and sustainable food consumption. What can you find in this policy booklet? For each one of the sustainability and climate change literacy topics, we named multiple good practices that can be implemented. These were identified at a local, regional, national, and European level. For example, what can we implement towards greater sustainability regarding transportation and mobility? Some suggestions are to promote more sustainable forms of transport and alternatives to using a private vehicle, like the development of bicycle lanes and car sharing. But how do you engage older citizens in this process? We recommend promoting its usage in a comprehensive and accessible way so that its benefits can be properly understood. While implementing these recommendations for policies and practices, the engagement, and characteristics of older citizens should be considered. Older adults can offer valuable life experiences and unique motivations for altering their behaviour, namely grandchildren that may make them want to live on a greener planet. There are specific aspects that can be adjusted and considered to achieve this goal. The first step is to know your target group, and their interests, and find effective ways to make them feel more engaged while considering the focus of the policy. In order to successfully reach our target demographic, we suggest a study on age-friendly cities in The Hague, The Netherlands, done by researchers from The Hague University of Applied Sciences (THUAS). This study categorized older adults into clusters based on their environmental beliefs, financial status, environmentally driven behaviours, and behaviour motivated by financial gains. Each cluster serves to display in which aspects, the older citizens may benefit from certain policies. This way, the dissemination of certain information and measures is recommended to enhance their engagement. You can learn more about our policy recommendations here

Our Trainer Manual is another product of the GreenerAge project. It aims to support facilitators, serving as a recommended guide for the preparation of workshops! Although the workshop itself focuses on citizens aged 55 years or more, this Trainer Manual emphasizes the whole process of preparing a workshop, emphasizing your role as a facilitator! So, what do we suggest? Let’s get started! Focused on adult education, the GreenerAge project uses a multi-step methodological approach during the workshop, while creating inclusive environments. As a result, four main approaches were identified: personal approach, analysis, dealing with conflicts, and positive outcome. What is this workshop’s main purpose? As a facilitator, you should aim to teach older people climate change literacy while developing their skills and providing them with suitable tools. This way, sustainable habits and communities can be enhanced. In our curriculum, we suggest different approaches, equipment, and practical recommendations for each icebreaker and other exercises and different planned sessions. These follow the suggested learning units regarding climate change literacy and the five identified key areas of sustainability such as sustainable transportation and mobility, sustainable water consumption, recycling knowledge and behavior, sustainable energy consumption, and sustainable food consumption. The GreenerAge Land platform is also encouraged as a learning tool, especially emphasizing learners with lower levels of education. We know how hard it can be to change our habits… considering this, we propose a personal action plan, where the participants can reflect on which behaviours they can, and should change, towards a more sustainable and climate-protected environment. Drawing up a community action plan is also recommended as a next step. In our toolkit, we provide multiple materials, namely case studies, PowerPoint presentations and print handouts. Case studies were made available so that facilitators could instigate discussions about personal and community action plans. As a facilitator you should provide all the workshop participants with the chosen materials; however, these may need to be adapted to their specific interests and needs. By enrolling in the present workshop, these citizens manifest some level of interest and sustainability knowledge, however, their motivations may vary. The GreenerAge workshop aspires to offer an opportunity where participants from every generation can exchange their opinions and knowledge, no matter their background. If this Trainer Manual interests you, please visit: https://greenerage.eu/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/Trainer-manual_EN.pdf

Reaching its final stage, the GreenerAge 55+ Compendium’s purpose is to present our main results in an accessible way! The GreenerAge project’s main target is the empowerment of older citizens, through the creation of sustainable tools, to enhance skills and competencies. In this compendium, you can find five key areas of sustainable living and practical tips that you can adopt in your daily life: Sustainable Transportation and Mobility – Systems and practices whose focus is the efficient, environmentally friendly, and socially equitable movement of people and goods. Tips: Let’s walk more often, carpool, switch to e-mobility, use local public transport, and avoid flying to minimize environmental negative impacts! Sustainable Water Consumption – Efficiently and responsibly using water resources to meet our present needs without compromising its availability for future generations. Tips: To preserve the ecosystem, let’s use less water, use and reuse it responsibly, as well as reflect on our usage! Recycling – Repurposing, collecting, sorting, and transforming waste materials into new products, reducing the need for raw materials. Tips: To minimize our environmental impact, let’s learn the R’s, swap or donate items and/or clothes, learn from and educate others, and share these tips! Sustainable Energy – Efficiently using energy and renewable energy sources. This way, present and future energy needs can be met, and the environmental impact can be minimized. Tips: To preserve resources, let’s use LED lamps, cut on standby consumption, be informed about our energy provider and search for initiatives and subsidies available, to become more sustainable as a community! Sustainable Food – Considering the environmental impact of food production, supporting long-term food production and well-being overall. Tips: Don’t waste food items, avoid plastic when shopping, support your local producers and educate yourself and others on the topic! This compendium is the product of collaborative work between citizens and experts, to present the topic of climate literacy and five key areas of sustainable living. Interviews and testimonials across five partner countries were used to identify knowledge gaps. Using this knowledge, some tips are suggested for older citizens to adopt healthier behaviours in everyday life. You can explore our compendium here:

The GreenerAge consortium held its fifth and final Transnational Project Meeting (TPM) in Porto, Portugal on the 21st and 22nd of February,2024.The meeting, held in in hybrid form, was an opportunity to present the latest advancements of the project. During the meeting, the outcomes of the project were discussed: the compendium, the trainer manual, the policy recommendations booklet, and the e-learning platform GreenerAge Land, which will be officially launched in the upcoming weeks. Those who attended the meeting in person in Porto had the opportunity to visit Vintage for a Cause, a company and brand that focuses on circular design. This approach aims to minimize waste, recycle and use eco-friendly materials, and reduce environmental impact. The company offers exclusive clothing designed by various designers. Vintage for a cause supports an inclusion and empowerment initiative named “From Granny To Trendy,” specifically designed to involve and empower women over 50. This project provides training in sustainable fashion and opportunities for active participation. The GreenerAge project has been an exceptional journey. It not only provided us with the chance to establish a strong network of partners dedicated to protecting the environment, but it also created an opportunity for continuous learning in the field of environmental and climate change. We are looking forward to the next steps!

Discover all the latest developments of GreenerAge, including the Multiplier Events held in all partner countries, in the 8th newsletter: https://greenerage.eu/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/GreenerAge-Newsletter-8.pdf

The GreenerAge multiplier event organised by ISIS (ISIS Institut für Soziale Infrastruktur gemeinnützige GmbH ) took place in Maintal, Germany. It took place during a book exhibition organised by the NGO “Persönlichkeit mit Perspektiven [https://www.pmpev.de/]” with books for adults and children on environmental and climate change. The exhibition was also an opportunity for the Municipality to present the new cargo bikes. GreenerAge information material was distributed among the participants, with printed compendium and flyers made of a special paper containing seeds for caterpillar-friendly flowers. Interested visitors could get acquainted with the GreenerAge learning platform thanks to the laptops provided during the exhibition. Those who answered the GreenerAge quizzes correctly qualified for a wheel of fortune with eco-friendly prizes. Visitors to the exhibition were also invited to attend a meeting where the GreenerAge project objectives and results were presented and discussed, highlighting their potential impact on the community of Maintal. Approximately 100 citizens visited the multiplier event of which 53 confirmed their attendance in writing.

At the beginning of December, the Fundacja Laboratorium Architektury 60+ (LAB 60+) organised a multiplier event. The meeting took place in Tychy, Poland. The event was attended by about 40 people, including members of the Tychy Council of Seniors (an associate partner of LAB 60+), representatives of the Tychy University of the Third Age, the Maluch126p Association, the Tychy Branch of the Polish Ecological Society and the Platinum Seniors Club. During the meeting, the project and its results were presented to the participants, who could also get acquainted with the learning platform. All participants were involved in lively discussions, especially about the adoption of the GreenerAge solution by local communities.

On 20 November, AFEDEMY, the Academy for Age-Friendly Environments, organised a GreenerAge multiplier event. The event took place in Leiden. During the event, the GreenerAge project was presented along with its main outputs, consisting of a compendium, a trainer manual, an online platform and a policy booklet. The event was also an opportunity to present other great initiatives such as the Meertalig Energy Helpdesk (presented by Rayan Younis and Aaron Pereira) and Energiefixers071 (presented by Bart Groeneweg) to a diverse audience of professionals and engaged citizens passionate about sustainability. After the presentations, participants were involved in a fruitful discussion using the worldcafe method to further explore strategies for reaching and engaging different audiences in the fight against climate change. It was inspiring to see such a lively exchange of ideas, which reinforced the understanding that collaboration is the key to effective change.