The project focuses on the effective involvement of Senior Citizens’ Councils operating in the Silesian Voivodeship in shaping and implementing senior citizens’ policy at the level of their local authorities. Of the members of the 27 Senior Citizens’ Councils established in our province over the past three years, almost half took part in one or more projects aimed at professionalising the Councils. The educational and information sessions carried out as part of these projects helped to resolve a number of issues faced by the teams forming the Councils, such as limited knowledge of local government activities at the municipal level, problems with teamwork and group communication, and the updating of the Councils’ statutes, etc.
Both the removal of those „technical” issues which inefficiently took up time and often dominated the agenda of Council meetings, and the obligation to prepare and
The presentation of the annual activity reports to the Municipal Council drew the attention of the Council members to the limited results achieved by their body.
During a working meeting of the Senior Citizens’ Councils, which took place at the Silesian Park Foundation in December this year, in response to a question about the successes of their Councils, participants cited improved cooperation with the local authority or the success of a project they had submitted as part of the Participatory Budget. The need was raised to give greater prominence to the issues and initiatives that
is taken by the Council. Council members also noted that their activities remain little known to the local community and amongst older people.
As part of the project, a series of seminars is planned to familiarise Council members with the following topics:
- a programme for older people in the local authority,
- cooperation between RS and the local authority on the programme for tackling social problems and the assessment of social welfare resources, which also cover issues relating to older people,
- the provision of community-based social services for older people,
- supporting the development of the social economy with a view to the economic implementation of the policy programme for older people (the so-called „silver economy”).
A media campaign should also be launched to raise awareness of the key issues facing older people and the work of the Councils
Cooperation with the television station to help older people tackle these issues. Participants highlighted the positive reception of the programme „Dojrzalsi”, produced by Regional Television and
They felt that the topic of older people should be explored further.
The project will involve a range of educational and promotional activities. Participants will include people aged 60 and over, members of existing Senior Citizens’ Councils, and senior citizens
who are involved in initiatives within their local authorities aimed at establishing further councils. The project will be carried out in the Silesian Voivodeship.