The kick-off meeting of BeOLD project took place in Athens, Greece, on 30th November – 1st December 2017. The project aims at improving the labor market integration of older workers (55+) through the elaboration of a vocational counselling program and a training program for managers and HR managers from private companies. Under the coordination of Asociatia Habilitas, and having as partners KMOP – Greece, Documenta – Spain, Anziani E Non Solo – Italy, Universitatea din Bucuresti – Romania, Confederatia Nationala Sindicala “Cartel ALFA” – Romania, and CARDET – Cyprus, we have put the basis of the first Intellectual Output of the project, an E-Book that presents the resources and barriers met by older workers at their job places, in comparison with younger workers, in all partner countries.
The meeting was the occasion for the consortium to know each other and further discuss about the objectives of BeOld which aims:
– to propose an integrated approach for enhancing older persons participation at workplace
– to promote social inclusion of older persons through their better integration at work
– to combat ageism
– to foster intergenerational learning and mentorate activities in the workplace
– to develop educators competences in this area
– to propose a model of policy for supporting older workers
In particular, the partners focused on the activities that are needed to achieve the above-mentioned objectives. As a first activity, the consortium is preparing questionnaires to gather the views of employers and employees on the skills of older workers. Interviews will take place at the beginning of 2018 in the countries involved in the project: Cyprus, Greece, Italy, Romania, and Spain. The results of this activity will feed the first output of the project: an e-book on the barriers and resources of different generations at work. The document will provide the background to develop the other outputs. In particular, it will provide background information on the support, at organisational and societal level, which is provided to older workers in Romania, Cyprus, Italy, Spain, and Greece.