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Description
The project +Voz: Envelhecer com Dignidade (“+VOICE: Aging with Dignity”) aims to contribute to the empowerment of 70 elderly people living in the municipality of Ribeira Grande (São Miguel Island, Azores Archipelago). It intends to create a Senior Municipal Council and 14 Senior Nuclei, one in each parish, through which the public debate of the needs of this age group will be promoted and answers suggested by themselves to solve the problems of their community will be presented. The project will implement campaigns to give recognition, visibility and expression to the role of older people in society. It is also intended to involve Government decision makers, NGOs and other relevant entities for the implementation of the project. The main objectives of the project are to contribute to the improvement of the quality of life of the senior population; provide tools to listen to and give expression to this group; listen to the problems felt in each of the localities; and to promote public debate on the social, cultural, economic, health, environmental and political needs of this target group.
Summary of project results
Like the rest of Europe, Portugal is undergoing demographic changes with important social, economic and cultural consequences. In the recent past and today, demographic change in Portugal is characterised by a gradual increase in older age groups, forcing the competent authorities to (re)formulate strategies to respond to the increase in demographic ageing, so that older people can grow old with dignity, promoting their rights. This demographic evolution, which translates into an ageing population, poses numerous challenges for our society, such as resolving the growing problem of exclusion and social isolation of the elderly and the need to view the ageing process in a positive light, so that it should be considered from a preventive perspective and promote health and autonomy, with a view to a better quality of life. To this end, it is necessary to (re)formulate strategies that encourage active ageing, complementary to current social policies, which are proving to be insufficient.
In Portugal, on the islands of the Azores, and more specifically in the municipality of Ribeira Grande, there is no practice of listening to the senior population and it would be important to create a consultative body that liaises with, informs, promotes the rights of and protects the elderly, in order to guarantee their well-being, dignity and quality of life, as well as a body that is active in finding solutions to the problems diagnosed and identified by senior citizens.
The +VOZ: Ageing with Dignity project was aimed at people aged 65 and over living in one of the 14 parishes in the municipality of Ribeira Grande, Azores Islands. It aimed to promote public debate on the social, cultural, economic, health, environmental and political needs of the elderly population, with their active, empowered and formally recognised participation.
The project organised 7 training workshops, the topics of which were chosen by seniors and in which 180 seniors took part; socio-cultural activities such as gatherings and round tables; one Local Seminar on Citizenship and Civic Participation of the Elderly; four awareness campaigns, which together contributed to the creation of 14 local senior centres (one per parish in the municipality) and the creation of the first Senior Municipal Council in the Azores.
Within the scope of capacity building, the promoter, with the support of an external organisation, developed social marketing activities, such as revamping its website and making a promotional video. They also trained four Novo Dia employees in the different areas of Project Management and Digital Marketing.
The Project +VOZ: Aging with Dignity facilitated public debate on the needs of the senior group and presented responses suggested by those to address the real problems of each village in the municipality. The primary target group consisted of individuals aged 65 and plus living in the municipality of Ribeira Grande, in São Miguel Island, in the Archipelago of the Azores. Considering the importance of the key stakeholders in the municipality, members and leaders of Parish Councils, Municipal Council, NGOs, and other relevant entities were also involved in the project''s execution. Throughout the project, awareness campaigns were implemented and training workshops were conducted, with the main objectives being to recognize, highlight, and give voice to the importance of the elderly in society.
An unforeseen result was the process of the municipality setting up a Senior Participatory Budget, which has been announced by the President of CMRG in the media and will be held in 2025.