The aim of this paper is to analyse the relationship between social participation and education among elderly people in Italy. We consider social participation as one of the possible dimensions of successful ageing (WHO 2002, Principi et al. 2021). More precisely, under the umbrella of social participation we analyse three sub-dimensions: political participation, voluntary activities, and social connectedness.

The analytical strategy is to compare the social participation of older people with different levels of education. Indeed, the level of education can be related to social participation in at least two ways. Firstly, education could lead to the acquisition of certain lifestyles and cultural tastes that lead individuals to conduct a more active social life (Jensen & Skjøtt-Larsen 2021). Secondly, it has to be taken into account that social participation is a costly activity and people have to invest time and/or money to play an active role in community life (Yang & Konrath 2023). Therefore, education could have an indirect impact through the attainment of remunerative activities. Another aspect to consider is the state of health (Sirven & Debrand 2008). Indeed, education can have an impact on the health status of older people through the two channels described above, which in turn affects social participation. In the end, we plan to estimate a first model to estimate the effect of education on social participation and then to conduct a mediation analysis to understand how much of the total effect of education passes through health status.

To answer these research questions, we rely on the ISTAT data archive Aspetti della vita quotidiana that has the great advantage to collect a rich set of information on social participation and health conditions representative at regional level. More specifically, we are using the microdata for research purposes covering the period from 2013 to 2021.

RATIONALE

Old age is commonly linked with the diminishing or loss of both physical and mental health, subjecting older individuals to ageist attitudes that marginalize them from mainstream society.

These unfavourable depictions of old age overshadow the noteworthy contributions that older individuals can bring to society. The competencies, perspectives, and life experiences of the elderly can be harnessed across various facets of social life, encompassing active participation in the labour market, volunteering, aiding and caring for others, and involvement in activities related to community empowerment and intergenerational solidarity[1].

In Europe, Italy’s population is aging and shrinking at the fastest rate compared to other countries, forcing the national and local institutions to adapt their policies to a booming population of older persons that puts it at the forefront of a global demographic trend that experts define as the “silver tsunami.”

Hence, in a challenging scenario where in Italy the people aged 65 years and more are nearly the 24% of the total population[2] - labelling Italy as a super-aged country - it is a mandate to activate their potential, helping them to remain active after retirement, setting, thus, a framework for long-term growth and social cohesion.

OBJECTIVES

Considering the most recent scientific literature on these topics, the empowering nature of learning, education and active learning provides a convincing rationale for increasing the range of opportunities for older people. Thus, the main purpose of this paper is to present the preliminary results of a national exploratory qualitative research for the collection and analysis of the current educational practice for older adults, to identify best schemes, regarding educational initiatives, programmes, and institutions to widen learning opportunities for seniors, promote intergenerational learning through volunteering and mentoring initiatives, as well as shift perspectives regarding seniors’ potential.

METHODOLOGY

This study followed an exploratory design, using the ‘Promising Practices for Education and Active Ageing Questionnaire – PREAA’. The goal was to collect the projects and practice activated by the national stakeholders for older adults aged 50 years and more. The questionnaire consists of 45 items, encompassing nine domains related to various aspects: 1) Typology of the stakeholder; 2) Socio-demographic characteristics of the participants; 3) Description of the project; 4) Budget. Responses are recorded as close-ended questions while some questions are open-ended. The data analysis follows the grounded theory approach[3], to find insights and tendencies from the information collected through the questionnaire.

PRELIMINARY FINDINGS

The growing significance of education and learning in advancing active aging is delineated. Additionally, preliminary findings propose a framework to address the challenges posed by aging by leveraging existing experiences and practices. Recommendations for interventions are put forth to promote active aging, intergenerational learning, and a shift in perspectives regarding seniors' roles in contemporary societies.

Longevity entails specific learning for older adults, that is addressed by changing philosophies (Hachem, 2023). A new transformation of perspectives (Formenti & West, 2018) is here invoked, endorsing a critical ecosystemic model (Braithwaite et al., 2017; Hynes et al. 2020) that connects individuals, families, collectivities, professionals and policy makers in an effort to enhance the capacity of our society to guarantee justice, well-being, and meaning to all its citizens.

Lifelong and long-life learning (Whitnall, 2011) receive new inputs from research and intervention with complex systems (Axelrod & Cohen, 2000; Morin, 2008; Formenti, 2018), showing how interactions shape the emergence of shared knowledge and decision making, integrated care, and effective coping, at a micro, meso and macro-level. Older citizens’ embodied and biographical experience (Formenti, West, & Horsdal, 2014) couples with changes in the proximal system, family, and convoys of care (Keating et al., 2019; Kemp et al., 2013), where individuals of all ages inter-act and contribute as valuable resources and care-givers.

Interdependence, circularity and self-organization characterize learning as a cross-cutting process involving care givers and receivers, family members, health professionals, local administrators and designers of tools and services. These complex learning processes – with positive as well as undesired outcomes - can be named and transformed by the actors and organizations involved, to overcome hidden ageism reducing the complexity of a person to vulnerability and disability (a “patient”), or consumerism (a “service consumer”). Or to highlight intersectionality: being a woman, or family caregiver (the “burden” of care), having lower income, a history of migration, low technological competence/access or poor health literacy, are all predictors of marginalization and discrimination.

Research on the systems of care (formal, informal and technology mediated) shows the complexity of the involved processes, revealing the lights and shadows of the national agenda for active ageing and the gaps that hinder older citizen’s agency, possibilities, and access to services.

Care is also about empowerment, recognition and slowing down, to learn and develop coping strategy not aligned to the normative discursive frameworks of the neoliberal society. Caring about oneself, the others and the environment entails awareness that longevity is becoming a main structuring feature of society needing new creative answers. Critical systemic research on learning and education in longevity may open new possibilities towards transforming the dominant paradigm in ways that are more respectful of freedom, equality, meaning, and wisdom.

An interdisciplinary research project within the framework of PNRR Age-It program (Spoke 10/WP5) involves researchers from education, social gerontology, family sociology, economy and technology, using narrative and participatory methods to highlight transformative patterns in three local communities/territories. A critical ecosystemic model will be implemented in doing fieldwork to explore lived experience, expose local pockets of social injustice, and celebrate co-evolutionary patterns of care and learning, for example in couples (Berg & Upchurch, 2007; Revenson, 2005), families, and informal groups, beyond mere answers to health issues, to impact relationships, social engagement, and the collective construction of meaning and value.

The current demographic changes have made it evident that there is an urgent need to undertake active and collective strategies that encompass the entire lifespan. These strategies aim to encourage the participation of older people in social life and promote a new culture of solidarity that considers them as a valuable resource within an age-integrated society (Gasperi, 2003).

In this perspective, the significant role that active ageing is called upon to play in understanding and addressing the challenges of aging becomes even more substantial when facing the needs of care for frail older people. In fact, the gradual loss of legitimacy of the traditional paradigm of institutionalization has paved the way for the idea that promoting methods enabling individuals to age in their own homes is preferable and contributes to promoting the well-being concept proposed by the WHO (Minguzzi, 2003; WHO, 2002). Maintaining the quality of life at home has proven to be a crucial generational issue for all EU countries and has become particularly essential during the pandemic (WHO, 2002).

According to the Care Needed Report (OECD, 2018), most countries should develop a recognized accreditation program providing training in care and social support for caregivers and service professionals to promote the improvement of quality of life and home care for frail older people, and in particular, people with dementia.

Given the current situation and future prospects, it is necessary to reassess the needs of home care services and reconsider the training and skills of professionals providing them. This involves laying the groundwork: on micro level, for a shift in thinking and working that allows individuals to construct their old age in a highly personalized manner, maintaining a proactive outlook and an inclination to attribute meaning to the experience (Deluigi, 2008); on meso level, for enhancing the training system for home service professionals, with a focus on life skills, coping, and resilience (Boffo et al., 2023); on macro level, for contributing the sustainability of the welfare system concerning the reduction of public spending for assistance and social-health care interventions.

This contribution aims to present the “Qavad project” - an Erasmus Plus project experience - that sought to promote the improvement of the quality of life for older people at home by proposing to work on tangible improvements in support for maintaining autonomy and supporting professionals working in home care. Based on a theoretical framework that considers learning models referring to some of the main pedagogical concepts of innovative psychosocial perspectives on older adults care (Baltes et al., 1980; Baltes & Baltes, 1990; Feil, 1991; Jones, 1999; Kitwood, 1997), the transnational partnership developed the design of a training model to both innovate and support the training of home care professionals, consisting of 8 modules designed to be adaptable based on the target audience: 6 for professionals, caregivers, volunteers, etc., and 2 modules for professionals in management or coordination roles in the community. The outcomes of the piloting of the training module in Northern Italy will be discussed.

Over the last twenty years, the category of local heritage has expanded and changed: it has seen a substantial convergence on the unity of the natural, cultural and social dimensions, together with an increased consideration of the inescapable dynamism brought about by production and use. This holistic approach of cultural heritage allows the full recovery of the significance of production and consumption practices, values, oral and 'living' expressions (Del Gobbo, 2019). The concept of intangible heritage has made explicit and made evident the human component embedded in artefacts and cultural contexts: the introduction of intangible heritage has brought about a shift towards a people-oriented vision and the overcoming of object-centred positions (Alivizatou, 2006). In the current debate the shift towards person-centred approaches, in connection with local communities, is being confirmed: a shift from an expertise-led and object-oriented preservation paradigm to a new inclusive and people-oriented paradigm (Auclair, Fairclough, 2015). The people-oriented paradigm also implies a focus on bottom-up processes in cultural policies and heritage management modes, prefiguring the involvement of different stakeholders and dynamic networks for the governance and enjoyment of the heritage (Fariclough, 2009). It is a paradigm shift that is influencing the practices of cultural institutions and third sector actors (cooperatives and associations) that guarantee access, enjoyment and preservation (Gordon, Beilby-Orrin, 2007; (Del Gobbo, 2019; UNESCO, 2021).

In the inland areas of Italy, a large part of the local communities is represented by a progressively ageing population. The contribution presents the results of a pilot research carried out in Casentino (an inland area of Tuscany with a high old-age index) aimed at detecting the active involvement of the over-55 population (active ageing index) in the production of cultural services. The originality of the research lies in the reversal of the perspective: the literature mainly considers the benefits deriving from the enjoyment of cultural heritage for active ageing, while the research intends to highlight the fundamental role played by the 'elderly' population in guaranteeing access to and enjoyment of the heritage by enhancing its potential in terms of informal and non-formal education. The research activity, with an interdisciplinary mixed methods approach, is aimed at investigating the relationship between the ageing of the population and the enhancement of the cultural heritage in terms of fruition and production, in an inland area of Tuscany. The objective is to investigate the weight of the over-55s as producers of services for the access to and dynamic preservation of the cultural heritage of the territories. the research design is qualitative-quantitative, correlational observational type for exploratory purposes, with the descriptive and interpretative purpose of an ongoing phenomenon, scarcely investigated on an empirical basis. It is based on an approach referable to the epistemology of cultural ecosystem services (MA, 2005) and intends to produce evidence for creative ageing and integrated welfare policies capable of promoting the activation of segments of local communities in order to improve their quality of life and at the same time to favour access to cultural heritage

Reflection on the professionalism capable of affecting the processes of defining the social capital (Bourdieu, 1980; Putnam, 1995) that a community can express is present in the literature: the study of social interaction processes for the construction of social capital as a product of those processes is part of a decade-long debate (Cohen 1982; Misztal, 1996; Eckersley 1998) that has led to the recognition of social capital as a dimension that can only 'exist' if it is made visible and activated as such. It originates in micro interactions which, in order to have an impact and be effective, must themselves be embedded in a 'meso' and 'macro' social order (FalkIan, Kilpatrick, 2000). The quantity and quality of a community's social capital has a great impact on the community's ability to manage change: social capital is a community's asset and the validity of social capital actually depends on its contextualisation (OECD, 2001; Krishna & Uphoff, 1999; Narayan & Pritchett, 1997). In this perspective, the concept of 'community efficacy' has been identified as the ability to manage change and influence the future of the community (Kilpatrick, Abbott-Chapman, 2005).

In fact, one effect of trust networks, on which social capital is based, lies in the possibility of facilitating the circulation of information, enabling the valorisation of contextual knowledge and the human capital that a territory expresses.

This contribution presents the results of a research study that has made it possible to detect the role that can be played by citizens over 55 who decide to make their skills, acquired through life and work experiences, available for the development of their community. The research is carried out in an inner area, the Casentino, characterized by a high old-age index and at the same time by interesting flows of incoming mobility after retirement. The research through an hermeneutic phenomenological approach, based on in-depth interviews, reconstructed some emblematic life stories to understand the skills acted in an informal way that in fact facilitated community activation processes. The evidence gathered makes it possible to highlight some contextual factors and conditions that can contribute to the definition of professionalization processes (del Gobbo, Federighi, 2021) capable of affecting the processes of defining social capital.