Cyberseniors: Active ageing through ICT

A program focused on training people over 55 who live in rural areas in applications for mobile phones and tablets for perform daily operations. This idea has been reinforced by the Covid-19 crisis that erupted in Europe in March 2020, and which has caused collective priorities to change globally.

About the project:

“Cyberseniors: Active Ageing through ICT“, co- founded by the European Commission under the Erasmus + Program. Fundación Cibervoluntarios coordinates this new initiative alongside with partners from Austria, Cyprus, Ireland and Romania. The main objective of Cyberseniors is to train people over 55 at risk of socio-digital exclusion in general, and in rural areas in particular, in the use of ICT tools that help them perform daily tasks in different areas: leisure, health, online banking, virtual communication, public administrations, etc., and how to use them safely.

Cyberseniors focuses on equipping older people with those digital tools and skills that allow them to maintain their independence and continue to carry out daily activities necessary for the development of their lifestyle.

The target groups are:

• People over 55 years of age residing in partner countries
• Organizations and entities whose beneficiaries are people over 55
• Workers, trainers and volunteers working with them directly

The consortium is made up of 5 organizations from Spain, Austria, Ireland, Romania and Cyprus, with experience in working with older people and in developing projects focused on training and the creation of open educational resources. Fundación Cibervoluntarios in Spain is the creator of the project and brings the experience of the national background project. The Vienna Association of Education Volunteers and Age & Opportunity of Ireland provide the point of view of organizations that work directly with older people. The Synthesis Center for Research and Education in Cyprus will bring its expertise in the development of adapted educational resources, and the National Association for Women in Rural Areas in Romania will bring the gender and rural perspective.

Cyberseniors main goals:

• To provide continuous mixed learning to people over 55 on the use of useful tools and applications to carry out tasks of their daily life in different fields and thus improve their quality of life.
• To fight loneliness and social exclusion of elderly people, especially those who reside in rural areas, highlighting the gender perspective.
• To create an innovative online multilingual training platform with open educational resources for face-to-face and online training in the use of ICT tools and applications for older people in Europe.
• To raise awareness among older people about the safe use of the internet and digital applications.
• To create a quality evaluation and usability report of the products developed, based on pilot training activities in partner countries