Intergenerational Projects Research Articles

A summary framework for effective engagement of IPLCs and rangers

In this paper we focus on the pressing need to effectively engage with Indigenous Peoples and Local Communities (IPLCs) and the need to strengthen the capacity of rangers originating from these communities. Opportunities for full participation and leadership by IPLCs are improved by enhancing the role of Indigenous and local rangers in fostering relationships while integrating cultural knowledge into the work on the ground. This also strengthens local benefits. We emphasize the invaluable contribution of IPLCs to conservation, often honed over generations, and explore current models of partnership and engagement. Particularly, we spotlight the vital role of IPLC rangers, who leverage unique skills, local knowledge, and cultural practices in their conservation work. The roles of both IPLCs and local Indigenous rangers are essential if we are to meet our goals for conserving 30% of the earth’s lands and waters by 2030 as promoted at the COP15 meeting of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), achieve the objectives for development of IPLC rangers as stated of Chitwan Declaration of 2019 (CD), or meet the related targets set by the Universal Ranger Support Alliance (URSA). We advocate for a partnership model with IPLCs that applies the principles of Collective Impact to improve outcomes and secure enduring benefits at all levels. To aid stakeholders in conservation projects involving IPLCs (including governments, businesses, and non-governmental organizations), we propose a straightforward summary framework that outlines stages for the development of relationships and projects. It integrates the work of others, including foundation principles, management systems for partnerships, and good practices, and stresses the need for pre-project training, learning and other forms of preparation. Altogether, these principles and accompanying recommendations help lay the groundwork for effective intergenerational projects involving IPLCs with long-term benefits.

INTERGENERATIONAL HEALTH PROMOTION PROJECTS WITH COLLEGE STUDENTS

Abstract Presenters in this session describe intergenerational projects that bring college students, older adults, and others together to foster health and well-being.

183 DEVELOPING AND FACILITATING ONLINE INTERGENERATIONAL CAFÉS

Abstract Background Many older people throughout their lives will require nursing care, consequentially most nurses will care for older people during their career. It is important that older people and student nurses are provided with shared learning opportunities so that professional caring partnerships can be nurtured and realised for mutual benefit. Intergenerational projects offer opportunities for intergenerational learning. However, few projects explore student nurse-older person dyads and how these can be integrated within undergraduate pre-registration programmes. This paper describes the development and facilitation of online older person-student nurse intergenerational cafés. Methods The project was managed by a design team comprising senior administration, lecturers in BSc Nursing programmes and a lecturer in Design for Health and Wellbeing. The ‘world café’ concept along with values of enablement and participation underpinned the design. The initiative was planned to align with a year three community care module. Regular online team meetings were held to agree the aims and outcomes for student nurse-older person cohorts, decide recruitment strategies, agree the process and format of facilitation. Older people were recruited through retirement, church, volunteer, social and sporting organisations, media and also using snowballing methods. Results Both student nurse and older person cohorts were offered support on how to access and participate in the café. Participants attended one of three online cafés hosted through Microsoft Teams. Each café followed the same format: 1) Group meeting convened with all participants; 2) Breakout small group ‘table’ discussions with student nurse-older people participants and design team facilitation; 3) The café was reconvened to whole group meeting where feedback was collated to elicit shared learning. Conclusion The initiative proved successful and there is merit in embedding intergenerational cafés into professionally accredited health care programmes. Through sharing life experiences and perspectives, intergenerational barriers can be reduced and new insights developed on person-centred gerontological care.

Authoring STEM identities through intergenerational collaborative partnerships

ABSTRACT Our multiple case study addresses the lack of opportunities many people have developing positive identification with STEM (science, technology, engineering, math) fields by investigating STEM identity authoring in three intergenerational collaborative partnerships. Adult and teen partners participated in two-day workshops learning conservation science and geospatial technologies to design and implement community projects. Our research examined how the design and implementation of intergenerational projects provided opportunities to: (1) demonstrate competence in STEM knowledge and understandings, (2) participate in performances of STEM practices, and (3) be recognized for competence and performances in STEM fields. Qualitative methods were used throughout. Data consisted of field observations followed by separate semi-structured interviews with each partner. Artifacts such as presentation posters, online maps and websites, educational materials (e.g., pamphlets and booklets), email, and forum posts were used as secondary data sources. We found STEM identities were promoted in intergenerational collaborative partnerships when personal resources and conservation science competences and performances were positively recognized by meaningful others. Our findings inform how informal STEM education programs can foster positive identification with STEM fields that may lead to increased participation in STEM pursuits across the lifespan, and likely have similar implications for formal STEM learning as well.

Creating Meaningful Interactions for Young Children, Older Friends, and Nursery School Practitioners within an Intergenerational Project.

Intergenerational practice, where children and older adults come together for shared activities, has grown in popularity in many Western countries. However, research about intergenerational practice, particularly in the UK, is limited. This paper reports on the findings from an exploratory case study about a small intergenerational project between a maintained nursery school and a residential care home for older adults with dementia in the South-East of England. The methodology was informed by a narrative dialogic approach drawing on the work of Bakhtin. Data was collected using naturalistic observations of children’s weekly visits to the care home and qualitative interviews with nursery school practitioners. The analysis explores how meaningful interactions were created between the children, the older adults, and the nursery school practitioners. Our findings suggest that singing, unstructured moments, continuity, context (open spaces/flexible sessions), and objects contribute to meaningful interactions between young children and older adults. The ability to be flexible and “go with the moment” were identified as key skills for practitioners supporting children and older adults. We conclude that intergenerational projects afford benefits not just for children and older adults, but also for practitioners in the form of “emotional rewards”. The importance of re-establishing intergenerational practice is recognised, as well as the ways in which barriers created by social distancing might safely be addressed through the use of outdoor spaces and digital technologies.Supplementary InformationThe online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s10643-022-01330-5.

Together again

Young and old are reuniting in Torbay to celebrate nature and music-making outdoors, thanks to a new series of intergenerational projects supported by the council, Nicole Weinstein finds out

The Role of Discounting in Energy Policy Investments

For informing future energy policy decisions, it is essential to choose the correct social discount rate (SDR) for ex-ante economic evaluations. Generally, costs and benefits—both economic and environmental—are weighted through a single constant discount rate. This leads to excessive discounting of the present value of cash flows progressively more distant over time. Evaluating energy projects through constant discount rates would mean underestimating their environmental externalities. This study intends to characterize environmental–economic discounting models calibrated for energy investments, distinguishing between intra- and inter-generational projects. In both cases, the idea is to use two discounting rates: an economic rate to assess financial components and an ecological rate to weight environmental effects. For intra-generational projects, the dual discount rates are assumed to be constant over time. For inter-generational projects, the model is time-declining to give greater weight to environmental damages and benefits in the long-term. Our discounting approaches are based on Ramsey’s growth model and Gollier’s ecological discounting model; the latter is expressed as a function of an index capable of describing the performance of a country’s energy systems. With regards to the models we propose, the novelty lies in the calibration of the “environmental quality” parameter. Regarding the model for long-term projects, another innovation concerns the analysis of risk components linked to economic variables; the growth rate of consumption is modelled as a stochastic variable. The defined models were implemented to determine discount rates for both Italy and China. In both cases, the estimated discount rates are lower than those suggested by governments. This means that the use of dual discounting approaches can guide policymakers towards sustainable investment in line with UN climate neutrality objectives.

Urban Project in Rural Crisis: Responding to Coronavirus in Bulgarian Villages

The unprecedented situation of COVID-19 has created a unique response from village-based projects in rural Bulgaria. My research from 2019-2020 followed three projects that facilitate urban-rural intergenerational connection as a form of rural reinvestment. With project planning uncertain and interactions between generations discouraged due to the pandemic, my research, and the cultural work I am following, took an unexpected turn. Rather than fulfilling their core missions of connecting young and old, rural and urban people together to pass on rural culture, these projects transformed their rhetoric and practices to support the elderly in a time of crisis. By drawing on my experiences in the field throughout Bulgaria’s early onset of pandemic and lockdown measures as well as “virtual ethnography” (being in the virtual spaces where communication and online events are happening), I explore how two of the intergenerational projects aimed at heritage-based rural reinvestment in Bulgaria have adapted and organized to fill different needs in a time of crisis. During the coronavirus pandemic, these projects served as a well-poised mechanism for responding quickly to shifting needs and contexts.

The Navajo Nation Healthy Diné Nation Act: A Description of Community Wellness Projects Funded by a 2% Tax on Minimal-to-No-Nutritious-Value Foods.

To promote the health of the Navajo people, the Navajo Nation passed the Healthy Diné Nation Act (HDNA) in 2014. The HDNA included a 2% tax on "minimal-to-no-nutritional-value" foods and waived 5% sales tax on healthy foods, the first such policy in the United States and any sovereign Tribal nation. Uniquely aligned with Tribal government structures, revenue was directly allocated to 110 small local government entities (Chapters) for self-determined wellness projects. To characterize HDNA-funded wellness projects, test for variation in project type, and funding amount over time by region and community size. Longitudinal study assessing funded wellness projects from tax inception through 2019. The Navajo Nation. One hundred ten Navajo Nation Chapters receiving funding for self-determined wellness projects. The categories and specific types of wellness projects and funding over 4 years by region and community size. Of revenue collected in 2015-2018, more than 99.1% was disbursed through 2019 ($4.6 million, $13 385 annually per community) across 1315 wellness projects (12 per community). The built recreational environment category received 38.6% of funds, equipment/supplies 16.5%, instruction 15.7%, food and water initiatives 14.0%, and social events 10.2%. Most common specific projects were walking trails ($648 470), exercise equipment ($585 675), food for events ($288 879), playgrounds ($287 471), and greenhouses ($275 554). Only the proportion allocated to instruction changed significantly over time (increased 2% annually, P = .02). Smaller communities (population <1000) allocated significantly higher proportions to traditional, agricultural, and intergenerational projects and less to the built environment. Through 2019, more than 99% of HDNA revenue was successfully disbursed to 110 rural, Tribal communities. Communities chose projects related to promoting the built recreational environment, agriculture, and fitness/nutrition education, with smaller communities emphasizing cultural and intergenerational projects. These findings can inform other indigenous nations considering similar policies and funding distributions.

Intergenerational community conservation projects, STEM identity authoring, and positioning: the cases of two intergenerational teams

ABSTRACT This research aimed to better understand the interaction between positioning and STEM identity authoring as intergenerational teams collaborated to complete community conservation projects, following a two-day conservation and geospatial technology workshop. Scientists and science educators supported these learners as they developed the focus, resources, timeline, and methods used to accomplish their negotiated pursuits at the two-day workshop and throughout their subsequent community project as a form of public engagement. To better understand the ways in which intergenerational teams located or positioned themselves and their partners, the ways in which teens and adults engaged in STEM identity authoring, and the interplay between positioning and STEM identity authoring a two-case study was completed. In this, field observations, interviews, and project artifacts were collected as the primary data sources. Findings emerging from the qualitative analysis of the data collected revealed how positioning and STEM identity authoring were found to be entangled and concurrently reinforcing even at the outset of the intergenerational teams’ work. Additionally, positioning and STEM identity authoring in intergenerational teams were influenced by societal and cultural norms. These findings as well as recommendations emerging from the findings are further elaborated with the aim of supporting future intergenerational work of teens and adults in informal STEM learning contexts.

Professional Training and Personal Development: Lessons From 10 Years of Intergenerational Learning

This presentation will highlight a ten-year collaboration between the Nazareth College Gerontology Program and St. John’s Senior Services – the St. John’s Collaborative for Intergenerational Learning (SCIL). Specifically, semester-long intergenerational coursework (Adulthood & Late Life, Issues in Aging, Aging & Community Service) and community-based service projects will be showcased with a focus on design, implementation, assessment, and impact. Emphasis will be placed on the reciprocity of these collaborations, the personal and professional benefits of these exchanges for our students, and the subsequent impact on the community partners and the individuals they serve. Various models of intergenerational learning as well as our new intergenerational residency program will also be discussed.

La féminité au très grand âge : destin de l’identité sexuée

AimsThe main studies focusing on the developments of femininity exclude the field of very old age. The objective of this work is therefore to identify what forms they may take at this time of life. MethodUsing clinical material from a six-year psychotherapy with a woman in her nineties, we hypothesize that her thoughts, hallucinations, and fantasies could be a path of expression of femininity at the end of life. These sessions were carried out monthly in an institutional context by a psychologist with a psychoanalytical orientation. Remaining desirable when all external objects tend to disappear is undoubtedly one of the main challenges at this stage of life. In order to analyze this clinical material, we use the phenomenological and psychoanalytic paradigm. The first allows us to situate the patient as author and subject of her experience. The second provides an analysis after the fact by means of a Freudo-Lacanian theoretical frame of reference. ResultsArticulating theory and clinical material, we examine the subject's hallucinations and their main mechanisms, along with the related speech acts. This is the manifestation of the subject's desire. We consider the differences between hysterical and psychotic hallucinations, in addition to the roles related to femininity and motherhood. The diverse forms they take are highlighted, clarifying the expression of these identities in old age. DiscussionThese elements can assist in guiding psychotherapeutic care. They also help clinicians to discern what the subject is saying during these psychic manifestations that are frequent at this age. ConclusionBeyond the purely psychological framework, the results of this study call into question policies applied to aging, in particular the objectives of certain intergenerational projects focused mainly on the maternal.

CULTURALLY DRIVEN MENTAL HEALTH CARE IN HMONG AND CAMBODIAN REFUGEE POPULATIONS

CULTURALLY DRIVEN MENTAL HEALTH CARE IN HMONG AND CAMBODIAN REFUGEE POPULATIONS

Integrated working and intergenerational projects

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to promote discussion about, and the development of the evidence-base underpinning integrated working for intergenerational working. It discusses perspectives on intergenerational work in general and specifically draws on case experiences of the use of intergenerational reminiscence based on sporting memories to highlight issues pertaining to integrated working. Design/methodology/approach The paper presents a general discussion of issues of intergenerational projects and integrated working, with case discussions of the use of sporting memories as an intervention for focusing intergenerational contact. Findings It is concluded that intergenerational work has much to offer but that it is far from clear how best to organise integrated working for this type of work. There are interesting lessons to be drawn for intergenerational interventions and integrated working from the case study discussions. Research limitations/implications Although case studies can provide crucial in-depth knowledge they can be limited in developing evidence we can be sure is more generalisable across contexts. Hence, further research is required into the impact of intergenerational projects, and how best to maximise this through effective integrated working. Practical implications The discussion and case study materials suggest there is much potential in using intergenerational projects to achieve a range of possible outcomes but it is not clear how integrated working is best operationalised in such work. Care is required about clarity concerning the aims of specific projects, but practitioners and others should be encouraged to carefully explore this area of work. Social implications The challenges of an ageing society are significant, as is the need to maintain intergenerational contact, mutuality and the implicit social contract across generations. Specifically developing opportunities for such contact may help achieve this and a range of other positive outcomes. Originality/value This paper brings together a discussion of intergenerational projects with consideration of the challenges of integrated working, and adds specific case study lessons from the use of sports-based reminiscence.

Citizen Science: Sally Shuttleworth and her Team Interviewed by Carolyn Burdett

In this podcast interview Carolyn Burdett joins Sally Shuttleworth, Gowan Dawson, Geoffrey Belknap, and Alison Moulds to discuss their project ‘Constructing Scientific Communities: Citizen Science in the 19th and 21st Centuries’. From Charles Darwin, nineteenth-century scientific periodicals, scientific communities, and amateur scientists to their twenty-first century virtual counterparts in digital platforms such as Zooniverse, the project illuminates the inclusive nature of science in action, and the strategies of public engagement to respond to the challenge of big data through intergenerational crowdsourcing projects extending from postgraduate research to child scientists.

Playing With Time: Gay Intergenerational Performance Work and the Productive Possibilities of Queer Temporalities

This article examines the tendencies of LGBT intergenerational theater projects. By engaging with ideas of queer time, temporal drag, and the pervasive heteronormative imagery of heritability and inheritance, this article explores the possibility that LGBT intergenerational projects may generate some of the problems they aim to challenge. Through the lens of queer time, the article describes the normativity generated in LGBT intergenerational theater projects as a form of restrictive interpellation. The article explores the temporal complexities at play in such theater productions as The Front Room, a specific LGBT intergenerational theater project performed in the United Kingdom in 2011. The article concludes by noting some ways in which intergenerational theater projects might seek to work through the embodiment of the historical quotidian as a mode of resistance to normativity’s recirculation.

Intergenerational Learning and Transformative Leadership for Sustainable Futures by Peter Blaze Corcoran and Brandon P. Hollingshead

Book Reviews 215 Intergenerational Learning and Transformative Leadership for Sustainable Futures Peter Blaze Corcoran and Brandon P. Hollingshead, editors (2014). The Netherlands: Wageningen Academic Publishers, 431 pages. $95.00 (hardback); ISBN: 978-90-8686-242-8. ______________________________________________________________ How can environmental education, intergenerational learning and transformative leadership intersect to create a better future for mankind? This big question recurs throughout this timely edited collection as the chapters explore these different facets through diverse cultural settings. The fourth edited volume of the Dutch government-supported series on education and learning in the context of sustainability, this volume attempts to address critical questions such as: what is the role of intergenerational learning and transformative leadership in meeting the challenges of today’s global community? What are the necessary ethical frameworks, methodologies, curricula and tools for advancing and strengthening such education? With little available literature in intergenerational learning in the context of environmental education, this book represents an important contribution in this emerging area of inquiry. The book features a total of 30 chapters divided into three parts. Part one, entitled “Principles,” consists of eight chapters providing the key principles that set the theoretical and conceptual foundation for the book. The various chapters providing case analyses of higher institutional initiatives for sustainability education in this section further provide reflections on the purpose of higher education in an age of urgent need for sustainable futures. Part Two, entitled “Perspectives,” comprises eight chapters exploring a range of intergenerational learning and transformative leadership concerns and propositions, such as methodologies and approaches to facilitate intergenerational learning, and practical tools to foster leadership. More examples of global-to-local initiatives are presented in Part Three, which is entitled “Praxis.” Among its 14 chapters, eight focus on university centers on environment and sustainable development and their projects/programs. These descriptions and evaluations of university centers from different continents are particularly beneficial for educators who wish to learn how other university centers for environment and sustainable development grow their initiatives, build intergenerational environmental studies courses, foster collaboration and develop networking. In the remaining chapters, discussions range from international networks such as the role of UNESCO networks in facilitating regional cooperation for sustainable development, to descriptions and reflections on specific intergenerational projects. For example, a chapter describes the Buddy Experiment project under the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) and Earth Charter International, where senior IUCN members are paired with young activists in intergenerational learning and mentoring. Book Reviews 216 Diversity serves as a dominant theme throughout the volume. The Director-General of UNESCO, Irina Bokova, affirms in the Forward of the book that this is a publication that offers an opportunity to “grasp the vitality, breadth and variety of ideas and practices in Education for Sustainable Development across the world” (17). The book’s diverse representations of cultures, as showcased in the global and local initiatives, broaden insights into how traditional ecological knowledge and socio-cultural understandings should inherently be part of the discourse on sustainability included in learning and leadership. The authors of the Introduction drive a powerful point that there is no shortage of effective leadership but there is a need to cultivate transformative leadership for sustainability, which they emphasize is an adaptive process always manifesting itself “within a particular context, [which] employs local knowledge and respects local needs and customs” (29). A respect for diversity and recognition of the learning potential in local knowledge is what makes a truly effective transformative leader. For someone in the intergenerational education field, I see the incorporation of intergenerationality in learning and leadership as a significant contribution of new ideas into the field. In the spirit of diversity, the book has juxtaposed and expanded the different understandings of intergenerational learning, from the first step of deciding who is included in intergenerational learning, to the directions that intergenerational concerns are heading. For instance, as rightly pointed out in the Introduction, there is a need to move beyond the tendency to interpret intergenerationality as a focus only on children and youth, ignoring and marginalizing elders as vulnerable and disabled. In the age of global longevity, there is an increasingly urgent need to adopt a new perspective on the older generations as valuable...

Intergenerational justice and health care: A case for interdependence

Among the myriad longstanding political, socioeconomic, and moral debates focused on the fair distribution of health-care resources within the United States, those addressing intergenerational justice tend to produce the most heat and, often, the least amount of light. The familiar narratives tend to be binary ones of opposing generational stakeholders. While a great number of proposed solutions focus on reconfiguring rationing priorities, this paper will instead shift the discourse to intergenerational interdependence, suggesting that these conflict-born moral dilemmas are in important ways false. The alternative view of intergenerational relations defended here is grounded in an interdependent, rather an oppositional, model of human relationships. I argue that this interdependence can best be realized through a deliberate movement toward intergenerational narrative understandings, as well as through physical proximities. I conclude by considering several ongoing intergenerational projects directed at just such a goal.

Rapprocher les âges de la vie : une analyse de projets intergénérationnels en Belgique

Les auteurs ont exploité une base de données originales fournie par la Fondation Roi Baudouin (Belgique) et correspondant aux dossiers remplis par des associations et des organisations publiques en réponse à deux appels à projets intergénérationnels lancé en 2006 et 2007 par la Fondation. Au total, environ 300 dossiers de candidature (Wallonie et Bruxelles) ont été analysés. La majorité des projets émane d’associations sans but lucratif (ASBL) qui relèvent principalement du secteur « formation et éducation ». Ces projets ont pour finalité première des réalisations communes et la transmission de savoir-faire et de mémoire, les « rencontres conviviales » ou le « vivre ensemble » n’intervenant qu’en positions plus éloignées dans le classement. En outre, même si les groupes d’âge impliqués dans les projets restent de façon dominante les personnes âgées (60 ans et plus) et les jeunes enfants (moins de 12 ans), une partie non négligeable cible aussi des groupes d’adolescents (12 à 20 ans) et d’adultes (20-60 ans). Beaucoup de projets ont des coûts relativement modérés, alors même qu’ils peuvent viser des cibles estimées à plusieurs centaines de personnes. Enfin, les analyses textuelles menées principalement sur les textes de présentation des projets montrent que les mots-clés les plus fréquemment plébiscités sont ceux formés à partir des mots « enfant », « âge », « intergénération » et des expressions composées sur la base de ces items. À travers la multiplicité et la diversité des projets intergénérationnels, c’est un besoin nouveau impératif de nos sociétés vieillissantes qui apparaît.

The German Project Called “Triangelpartnerschaften” (Triangle Partnerships): Can Music Bridge the Intergenerational Gap?

The authors of this article believe intergenerational projects provide appropriate solutions to this complex phenomenon. With this in our mind, we present the story behind a unique German programi involving gifted young people which is designed to bring different age groups together in order to perform and share experiences through music. The program is called “triangle partnerships” because three institutions (a school, a university and a home for the elderly) working together to realize this vision – using music to bridge the intergenerational gap. We hope this idea will catch on and be duplicated beyond the borders of Germany. Imagine seeing and hearing young and old singing together on a weekly basis and a band with a senior citizen playing on the drums!