The Ball Project developed its Second Steering Committee Meeting and First expert meeting at the University of Alicante on January 21 and 22, 2015

The Second Steering Committee Meeting and First expert meeting of the BALL -Be Active through Lifelong Learning- Project was held at the University of Alicante with the participation of the following institutions: Evris Foundation Ses, from Iceland, project coordinator; the University of Alicante, represented by the Permanent University (UPUA), from Spain; U3A Reykjavik, from Iceland, and Towarzaystwo Wolnej Wszechnicy Polskiej Oddzial w Lublinie, from Poland.

For two days, intense work was carried out on the analysis of the mapping performed by all three countries about the demographic situation and the population ageing phenomenon, the conditions for retirement in each country, the existing actions for training in the life stage before retirement, once retired, and also for the third age, as well as the results obtained in each partner country through the development of a Focus Groups with national and local experts in this field.

Attention was additionally paid to the preparation and implementation of a survey about these issues, which will be administered to some 3,000 people in the three countries, and which will surely prove useful to collect current direct data about the target population to which the study object is addressed (over 50s).

Other topics related to project management and dissemination -as well as to its outcomes- were also dealt with. Furthermore, a complementary programme of meetings with older adult students from the Permanent University of the University of Alicante proved useful to obtain an interesting feedback on both the training of seniors and their perceptions and needs during the retirement period. The BALL project members could have first-hand access to the actions and resources which are utilized in Spain within the framework of Older Adult University Programmes such as the UPUA, in training programmes focused on Active Ageing and the personal and cultural development of retired and pre-retired older adults in Spain.    

You can consult the agenda and photo gallery of the meeting here.