Portugal integrates European project to combat ageism
A European project that aims to fight against ageism, entitled “Smart Against Ageism”, was financed in 365 thousand euros by the Erasmus+ program. The research project, which includes Portuguese people, aims to combat negative stereotypes, discrimination and age-related prejudices.
“We hear about racism and others, but ageism is not seen as a problem”, says Flávia Rodrigues, projects investigated and a specialist in Communication and Public Relations at the non-Shine 2Europe organization, which in Portugal promotes this project.
For an investigation, this project aims to demystify some of the stereotypes, visions and myths often associated with the older population. The first step will be in the job market, often, explains Flávia Rodrigues, these people are seen as a “homogeneous mass”.
“In the job market a person over 45 is, with great difficulty in their integration” when entering a new project he says.
Funded through the European Commission’s Eramus+ programme, “Smart Against Ageism” brings together a number of other partners from Germany, Belgium, Lithuania, Bulgaria and the Netherlands. It is a joint effort, with a dedicated team in each country that will work until July 2024.
Various and phases
Carina Dantas, the CEO of Shine 2Europe, that the financing of around 365 thousand euros, in which the Portuguese company will have 56,270 euros, will be used for a research of requirements that allow to give the cultural context of ageism and in the development of four tools of learning.
After researching the cultural context, Shine’s CEO says the next step will be to develop “a manual of what the following context tool should look like”, which will count as the first.
“The second tool under development, together with the Dutch team, will be an interactive learning platform, while Shine will develop a high quality game that will be hosted on the platform”, he explains.
Carina Dantas says that the game is “confronting the person with positive and negative attitudes towards goal behavior in the work context”. Together with the game, a toolkit for trainers will be developed, with a series of methodologies that help in the use of the game and the manual as “educational resources”.
At the end of the project, these three tools will be made available free of charge, in open source format, with the respective results.
Helping with a paradigm shift
In addition to these three tools, Carina Dantas says she goes to the political and social change level. On its page, Shine 2Europe states that the objective of the projects they collaborate on is “bringing innovation and social advancement”, but that this depends “a lot on political changes”.
“Shine uses educational projects that can be used in formal and informal contexts that can be used in social contexts” says Carina Dantas.