www.river-project.eu
Project News No.2
December 2012
>> RIVER Research
Which competences can be enhanced through senior volunteering? Are there already existing validating methods and what are learning potentials of different generations involved in volunteering? Finding answers to these questions was the task of the first stocktaking phase in the EU-project RIVER, coordinated by die Berater®. The result of this research activity is the groundwork paper “Validation of informal learning in senior volunteering projects” which can be downloaded now on the RIVER website: www.river-project.eu Apart of this the groundwork paper gives an overview of a variety of projects dealing with intergenerational learning and shows examples of projects in which the LEVEL5 methodology has been tested so far.
>>Ready To Pilot
In October the first project partners of RIVER started with their piloting activities. Five partner institutions will be involved in piloting to test the RIVER methodology to validate competence development in different projects with senior volunteers. To support the institutions in this process an additional piloting workshop was organized in combination with the third project meeting in Rome, November 7-9. Project partners as well as representatives and facilitators from volunteering networks attended the workshop. Participants learned about the RIVER methodology, which is a comprehensive system for validating competences in informal learning settings, and is now designed for the specific requirements for the volunteering sector. The main aim of the training was to focus on the concrete piloting activities in which the partners are supposed to text the RIVER methodology.
>> RIVER at European conferences Intergenerational volunteering is an important opportunity for intergenerational learning. The European Network for Intergenerational Learning ENIL (http://www.enilnet.eu) promotes this idea and brings together practitioners throughout Europe. From October 24-26 the conference “Intergenerational Learning: Towards Active Ageing and Intergenerational Solidarity” took place in Nuremberg (DE). Putting a focus on validation and quality assurance, the RIVER project coordinator was invited to present the project and the validation concept which is developed.
The ICERI2012 (www.iceri2012.org) in Madrid from November 19-21 offered another opportunity to present the RIVER project to a European audience of adult educators and researchers. Information about the RIVER project was distributed at the conference “One Step Up in Later Life: learning for active ageing and intergenerational solidarity” organised by the European Commission from November 19 to 21 2012 in Brussels, Belgium. The methodology was discussed in the workshop “Intergenerational Learning in the Workplace”, where it raised interest, particularly among policy makers, in relation to retaining senior workers in the labour market as volunteers after retirement.
Read more about the RIVER project: www.river-project.eu
This project has been funded with support from the European Commission. This publication reflects the views only of the author, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein. If at any time, you wish to unsubscribe from our newsletter, you can do it by sending an e-mail message to eu-news@dieberater.com with Re: Unsubscribe RIVER.
>>Contact
Maren Satke bridges to europe die Berater® Wipplingerstrasse 32 / 23-26 A-1010 Vienna, Austria Tel.: +43 1 532 45 45-0 Fax: +43 1 532 45 45-1145 E-Mail: m.satke@dieberater.com www.dieberater.com www.bridgestoeurope.com
>>RIVER partners die Berater® Vienna, Austria www.dieberater.com
BUPNET GmbH Göttingen, Germany www.bupnet.net
CSVnet Italy www.csvnet.it
Forschungsinstitut des Roten Kreuzes Austria www.frk.or.at
Kamut Finnland www.kansallisetmaahanmuuttajat.fi
LUNARIA Italien www.lunaria.org
Alliance of European Voluntary Service Organisations www.alliance-network.eu
Budapest Cultural Centre Hungary www.bmknet.hu