What role do autobiographical narratives (Demetrio, 2018) play in the process of longevity? Can life stories and professional life stories, contribute to the process of taking charge and activating potentialities through a Selection-Optimization-Compensation model (Baltes & Baltes, 1990) in late adulthood?

This contribution seeks to address these questions by investigating, within a theoretical-methodological framework, some empirical experiences of personal and professional autobiographical narratives of individuals over 70 years old.

In particular, the intervention aims to showcase the trajectories of activation of formative processes (Cambi, 2002) functional to Active Aging, from a LongLife perspective, transitioning from the practice of signification (Bruner, 1992) internal to personal competencies (Le Boterf, 1990), typical of narrative action (Striano, 2005). It seeks to demonstrate how autobiographical praxis, when conducted and guided reflectively and metareflectively, allows one to ward off the despairing, isolating, and dispersing drifts that physical, social, and psychological senescence brings with it, revealing itself as a powerful catalyst for quality longevity.

In order to foster and ensure the well-being of older individuals, the World Health Organization (WHO) has outlined a model of active aging, which identifies lifelong learning as one of its foundational pillars. With this objective in mind, there is a need to reframe the care for older individuals, particularly those in fragile states, by emphasizing the person in their entirety and health (Annacontini, 2012). The evolving needs of aging individuals, far from being passive, underscore the importance of training caregivers in active listening, facilitating a humanizing relationship, and rekindling attention towards the world of older adults. To articulate a novel approach to the care of frail elderly individuals, it is imperative to empower them as the protagonists of actions rooted in the centrality of their identity and needs, not merely as recipients of care but as active participants in their own life journey (Annacontini, 2012).

In this regard, effective educational interventions are crucial, mediating autobiographical recognition and fostering environments and activities that are enjoyable and stimulating to the senses, while resonating with memories and experiences. Addressing the imperative to maintain a sense of purpose and future prospects despite the progression of their conditions, it is essential to deeply engage with the lives of elderly individuals (Mortari, 2019). By reasserting the protection of the rights and human dignity of frail elderly individuals, it becomes feasible to revive Montessori's pedagogical model and methodology, thereby equipping professionals with enhanced skills to appreciate the potentials that the elderly still possess (De Serio, 2014).

Our conventional perception of old age often depicts it as a period marked by physical decline and lethargy. However, in establishing caring relationships with older individuals, we come to understand that words recount stories, voices evoke memories, and hands articulate narratives that reflect the history of their bodies. Many older adults navigate through daily routines devoid of enthusiasm, leading to a mundane and passive existence (Luppi, 2020). Maria Montessori conceives the hand as the instrument of intelligence, enabling one to recognize, explore, create, and appreciate the surrounding world. Building upon this premise, a new educational and empowering trajectory for old age can be fashioned using Montessori's sensory-based pedagogy, thereby fostering action and fostering a positive acceptance of one's body, others, and the environment (Luppi, 2020).

In identifying an educational framework that positions the elderly individual at the forefront and promotes their dignity and well-being within a systemic framework, Montessori pedagogy emerges as remarkably responsive in terms of its scientific rigor and methodological distinctiveness. Hence, the Montessori practitioner enacts "humanizing" interventions rooted in experiences, desires, skills, and expectations that can instigate significant transformations in the individual, fostering autonomy and making them the central figure in their own context (Musaio, 2021). Promoting meticulous interventions tailored to the individual, approached with reverence and sensitivity, while upholding principles of freedom and acknowledging the nuances of aging, can challenge the prevailing paradigm that portrays the elderly as static and vulnerable.

In the last decades, the Active Aging framework (WHO 2002; Zaidi and Howse, 2017) has been proposed as a solution to the crisis of sustainability in our social systems: such challenges, often perceived as primarily economic, address the necessity to adjust social services and welfare systems due to the rapid demographic aging of Western societies. However, despite the key role conferred on the active aging model, it lacks proper investments by public institutions and broad strategies to promote it adequately, especially in relation to a fast-changing society. Consequently, the onus of "remaining active" and assuring an ongoing contribution to social communities falls heavily on the individual (Boudiny & Mortelmans, 2011; Foster & Walker, 2015), with great differences in terms of personal resources and socioeconomic background. The Covid-19 pandemic emphasized and further exacerbated these issues. For instance, since the early months of the pandemic, older adults have been unfairly depicted as inherently vulnerable individuals, perpetuating ageist stereotypes and disregarding the diverse experiences within this age category (Previtali et al., 2020). Moreover, the rapid digitalization that followed the shutdown of many in-person activities was not accompanied by structural/institutional strategies to address the inequalities in terms of use and access to digital technologies, i.e. relating the grey digital divide (Lai & Widmar, 2021), and enable older adults to fully participate in an increasingly digitized society.

In this contribution, we draw from our experience within two different research streams of the ACTIVE-IT project, which aims at investigating the consequences of Covid-19 on active aging in Italy and exploring the relational and digital resources enacted by older people to react to a changing social context. The first research stream is ILQA-19, a qualitative longitudinal case study that, since 2020, has explored the transformations of everyday life on a population of older individuals aged 65-80 in a cluster of villages in Northern Italy that represented the first Covid-19 Red Zone in Europe. The second research stream is involved with a peer-to-peer course on digital technologies co-constructed with the older population. The intersection of these two studies allows, on the one hand, to highlight the limits of "active aging in practice", documenting the heterogeneity among older ICT users and the influences of different backgrounds and ICT attitudes on their everyday life experiences and digital inclusion and exclusion; on the other hand, we argue that a peer-to-peer digital education model could be a valuable approach to increasing digital skills among older individuals (Woodward et al., 2013; Xie, 2007). We also share insights into the co-creation process of a peer-to-peer digital course that we co-designed and implemented between winter and spring 2024.
In discussing these two research experiences, we argue about the need to place the older population back at the center of this debate: as service users (entitled to be included in post-pandemic digital societies), as people endowed with full agency (not exclusively frail, vulnerable, etc.), and as resources to be protagonists in their own lifelong learning process.

This study aims to explore the educational processes linked to the learning of a foreign language in old age (Cardona & Louise, 2018) and aimed at promoting the active ageing process (Boffo, 2023) through the case study that is configured within the service of the University of the Third Age of Florence and its beneficiaries, an institution that, to date, has never been studied. The hope is that, through an analysis of the indicators useful to detect and categorise life skills for the care of ageing, the outcomes emerging from this research may support the construction of an adequate transition to retirement, necessary not only to create processes of inclusion, but also to foster active citizenship. Starting from a systematic and narrative review of the existing literature on the subject and also making use of the LifeComp model (Sala, Punie, Garkov & Cabrera, 2020), the reports Active Ageing Index (UNECE, 2018), Nine Principles on Active Ageing (ICAA, 2019) and the Guidelines for Mainstreaming Ageing (UNECE, 2021), we intend to construct a theoretical framework that is situated in both the linguistic and education sciences. From the methodological point of view, using a mixed-method approach, the research aims at mapping the design, structure and implementation of the studied service, in order to explicate its social impact and potential, both intrinsic and extrinsic. Subsequently, an empirical analysis of the identity and socio-demographic profiles, as well as of the autobiographical narratives, of learners in transition to retirement (56-65 years old) or already retired (65- 75 years old) will be carried out. At the same time, by means of a comparative perspective implemented on a European scale, an attempt will be made to ascertain to what extent what happens in the Florence service can be compared with similar situations.

Theoretical framework

The literature review examined the main studies on the topic of active ageing present within the international overview, with a special focus on the Nine Principles of Active Ageing (ICAA, 2019; UNECE, 2019) and the four Pillars of the Active Ageing Index (UNECE, 2021), in relation to the construction of the dimension of educational care to contrast the fragility of the older person and the individual in transition to a new phase of their life (Boffo, 2006; Boffo, 2022; Cambi, 2010).

Aim

Starting from this framework, the transversal scientific committee Learning, Education and Active Aging (LEAA) set up within the Age-It Programme (PE8, PNRR Programme) with the task of supporting the pedagogical, training and educational dimension, is conducting a national research aimed precisely at collecting good practices and, consequently, at understanding those processes and actions that explore the link between learning, education and work for active ageing in order to build a map of them at national level.

Methods and research design

The research design, divided into different phases, has seen and is seeing the active involvement of the Programme's stakeholders, in particular medium and large sized companies and social enterprises, both public and private. Therefore, the sample is still in view of expansion and enlargement. The research, which is of a mixed type, has adopted, in this first phase, a quantitative survey instrument defined by the working group and shared across the entire country. The analysis of this data will make it possible to identify several categories capable of guiding the selection of the Good Practices considered most representative, in terms, above all, of population, actions and socio-educational impact (UNECE, 2018). In a second phase, in-depth interviews will be conducted to explore the intentions and the level of planning (if any) underlying the educational action proposed on the territory.

Conclusions

The results will be able to provide a clear vision of the presence and diffusion, on the territory, of educational and learning processes aimed at the wellbeing of the population in transition and at the development of those life skills capable of supporting entry and remaining in old age phase (Sala et al., 2020; Tronto, 2006).

The growing presence of elders in society has long been considered an issue that needs to be addressed systematically, to manage the inescapable social and economic effects that affect the welfare system, healthcare, the production system, the ageing workforce, and family networks (Istat, 2023). Demographic ageing poses both a challenge and an opportunity in a society that is changing because of people's changing needs, and current expectations regarding longevity and quality of life (Formenti, 2022). This requires the development of new forms of solidarity and intervention that promote intergenerational cooperation based on mutual support and exchange of experiences and skills (Chianese, Cornacchia, 2022). As a matter of fact, ‘good’ ageing is not only a health issue but has a broader social profile and requires investment in prevention, general risk reduction, and education at a systemic level (Togni, 2021). For this reason, it’s urgent rethinking public and private living spaces as places that promote well-being and “active ageing” – defined by the World Health Organization (WHO, 2002) as the process of optimizing opportunities for health, participation, and safety to improve the quality of life of older people.
Along these lines, the contribution intends to propose some reflections on the state of the art concerning the topic of 'active ageing' in the European context in relation to the renewal and rethinking of 'age-friendly' urban and housing contexts.
The narrative literature review (Ghirotto, 2020), in progress, builds on what was developed by the WHO in connection with the “Global Network for Age-friendly Cities and Communities” (2023). The aim is to map research experiences in the field of Adult Education & Continuing Education (cf. Egetenmeyer, Boffo, Kröner, 2020) in accordance with urban regeneration processes aimed at overcoming the structural fragilities of contemporary cities (cf. Sennet, Sendra, 2022).
In order to respond to the ageing of the world’s population and widespread urbanization, the “Global Network for Age-friendly Cities and Communities” focuses on actions at the local level that can foster the full participation of older people in community life, promoting healthy and active ageing. The UNESCO Institute for Lifelong Learning in its document “Learning Cities and the SDGs: A Guide to Action” (2017) also confirms the urgency of rethinking cities in harmony with the vision expressed by the Sustainable Development Goals of the 2030 Agenda. From this point of view, the 'learning city' model is on the horizon of sustainability through the development of lifelong learning cities and communities (Boffo, Biagioli, 2023).
Meeting the needs for quality learning and education for all promotes equity and inclusion also in relation to demographic change and an ageing population. Therefore, 'learning cities' become laboratories for the promotion of learning for all, also for older people in order to foster active ageing.