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. The AAMEE project focuses on the promotion of active ageing and social, cultural and economic integration of migrant and minority ethnic elders, emphasising volunteer activities and the emergence of new culturally sensitive products and services in the fields of, for instance, housing, care, education, leisure, culture and marketing. This will be done on the basis of a mixture of practical and scientific activities and a variety of approaches.
The project has been launched in response to the impact of demographic change as one of the greatest challenges facing the European Union and a key element to promote economic and social inclusion within the EU. Statistical data shows that the number of elders aged 65-79 will increase throughout the European Union over the next 20 years whereas the number of younger people will decrease significantly.
Within the growing group of elders, migrant elders have already become an important new target group. Regarding migrant and minority ethnic elders, this is an important issue which has not really been dealt with and acknowledged in many European countries. Migrant elders have a great deal of potential and competence especially regarding their contribution to society, notably as volunteers, but also as workers and regarding cultural and economic potential.
The AAMEE project focuses on:
The project is realized with the financial assistance of the EU Commission in the frame of VP/2007/009 ENEA.
Instruments
There will be two Good Practice Competitions addressing voluntary organisations (Competition I), and local authorities and NGOs (Competition II). Prizes will be awarded during the 1st European Conference "Minority Ethnic and Migrant Elders across Europe - from Challenges to Opportunities", which will take place from 30 September to 02 October 2008 at the World Conference Center (WCCB: http://www.worldccbonn.com), the former building of the German parliament (Bundestag). The six Best Practice Examples award winners will host the international exchange programme to compare notes and learn from each other.
Moreover, establishing a European research network which concerns itself specifically with the topic of minority ethnic and migrant elders and adopting a research agenda will be another result of AAMEE.
In a final step there will be a memorandum to be published on this website.
The "Active Ageing of Migrant Elders Across Europe" project is promoted by the Ministry of Intergenerational Affairs, Family, Women and Integration of the State of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, and the Directorate General for Employment, Social Affairs and Equal Opportunities.
