"Older Migrants in the Neighbourhood: Sustainability through Self-Organisation and Participation".

on 31.01. and 01.02.2013 in Fulda

CeSSt's 2nd nationwide symposium focused on older migrants, a population group that illustrates the manifestations of demographic change in a special way: society is not only getting older, but is also becoming more "colourful" in old age, without the needs, interests and opportunities for participation of immigrants of retirement age in particular being known until now.

The conference, which was well attended by more than 80 participants from academia and practice in the fields of integration, work with senior citizens and community work, stimulated an intensive professional discussion. The occasion was the publication of the results of the BMBF-funded research project AMIQUS - Older Migrants in the Neighbourhood: Supporting and Initiating Networks of Self-Organisation and Self-Help, which was presented by the project leaders Prof. Dr. habil. Michael May, RhineMain University of Applied Sciences and Prof. Dr. habil. Monika Alisch, Fulda University of Applied Sciences, Department of Social Work.

Four expert forums discussed how approaches of self-organisation and self-help among older, more disadvantaged people - with and without a migration history - can be sustainably introduced into the routines of administration and institutions, which findings about forms of networking among older migrants can be supported in what way, how the educational processes taking place in concrete projects are to be understood and how it can be practically possible to reach people who have been written off as unreachable.

The conference also initiated an intensive exchange about other research projects from Düsseldorf, Darmstadt, Mittweida and Hamburg, which also deal with social innovations for a better quality of life in old age in a socio-spatial and participatory perspective with older people in a practical way.

Handouts and abstracts of individual presentations:

Contribution Andreas Thiesen: Only those who ask remain artificially stupid

Contribution Reinhold Knopp, Anne van Rießen: Age-appropriate living quarters
More information here
More information on the Soraq project

Contribution Monika Alisch, Michael May: AMIQUS project results

Forum 1:
Stefan Fröba, Reaching the unreachable
Kathrin Hahn, Older migrants learn locally

Forum 2:
Michael May, Networks of older migrants

Forum 4:
Monika Alisch, Self-organisation and politics