VASIE project “Active ageing and intergenerational solidarity in Europe” is part of the Erasmus+ Programme of the European Union dealing with strategic partnerships for adult education (programme 2014-2020). It will be conducted between September 2015 and August 2017.
Facing the economic and social challenge of the ageing population, the difficulty of getting a first job and the record level of youth unemployment, the European Commission has focused on active ageing and intergenerational solidarity within member states.
Indeed, cooperation and exchanges between young and old people may help to develop, acquire and promote transferable skills into professional situations (business world for young people and associations for older people, for example).
As the OECD points out, these soft skills are increasingly sought in a world where information and communication technologies are present in everyday’s life, “workers from XXI century should acquire information skills and different “generic” skills, such as interpersonal communication, self-organisation and learning ability. Possessing these skills will enable workers to cope with the uncertainties of a changing job market. “
Thus, in the context of Europe 2020, seven European partners met to develop tools to learn (again) how to live together and to promote solidarity between generations in order to share and to collaborate while developing social skills.
The social skills selected in VASIE project are based on a poll carried out by users from various project partner organisations.