Network Meeting - Research - Intergenerational Community Building

Monday 20th September 2021, 2:30pm - 4:30pm
Zoom

Our next meeting invites Nancy Henkin a Senior Fellow with Generations United to share her vast knowledge and experience on how to build intergenerational communities.

Ageism, age-segregation, and silo-ed service delivery systems have limited our ability to work together to build communities that are good for growing up and growing older. New programs, policies and practices are needed that intentionally foster a sense of generational interdependence, promote lifelong contribution, and encourage organisational alliances rather than competition for resources.

Intergenerational community building intentionally brings diverse organisations, residents of all ages, and policy makers together to address issues that affect people at all stages of life. In this workshop, we will examine the theoretical underpinnings of intergenerational community building, lessons learned from the Communities for All Ages model, the benefits of this approach, and concrete steps for integrating an intergenerational lens into community initiatives.

Biography

Nancy Z. Henkin, Ph.D., founder and former Executive Director of the Intergenerational Center at Temple University, is currently a Senior Fellow at Generations United and a consultant to numerous agencies and foundations. Her work has focused on intergenerational community building and programming, intergenerational relationships in immigrant communities, and lifelong civic engagement.

Dr. Henkin serves on the editorial board of the International Journal on Intergenerational Relations. She is the recipient of numerous awards, including the Jack Ossofsky Award from the National Council on the Aging, the Maggie Kuhn Award from the Gray Panthers, and the Intergenerational Champion Award from Generations United. In 2006, she was elected into the Ashoka Fellowship, a global community of social entrepreneurs.

Why do we need this network?

The idea behind the network is to share peer experience, knowledge and academic research. We will create discussion opportunities allowing you to consider new ideas and spark creativity as well as giving more accessible evidence to help you develop and grow the field of intergenerational practice. GWT invites practitioners and academics to get in touch to share their news, plans and evidence about past, existing and future research studies, programmes and pilots.

GWT is gathering a library of academic evidence to share with members who would otherwise be unable to obtain copies of publications and professional articles. The library will provide affirmation from the field and will be easy accessible for members to increase their knowledge and understanding of intergenerational practice providing evidence to assist in developing new, improving and sustaining projects for longer periods. The library and network meetings will provide much needed evidence which will assist individuals in future planning of projects, funding applications and for strategic players looking to embed intergenerational approaches into policy and strategic reports.

Monday 24th January 2022 – speaker tbc.

Future meetings

Monday 24th January 2022 – speakers TBC