Networked Volunteers

36,000 volunteers throughout Europe; the fourth edition of the competition and the campaign to join the “Network of Knowledge Volunteers” kicks off.

 

“Grandparents on the Internet” has trained nearly 20,000 elders with the help of young students.

 

Redattore sociale, 27 September 2013

 

ROME - “The best adjective to describe this experience is gratifying, not only because we once were teachers, but also because we have seen the progress, the ability of the elders to learn how to use a computer, and they have become our own grandparents and they love us.” Matteo De Curtis from the Liceo Socrate is one of the 36,000 knowledge volunteers that help elders throughout Europe to learn about new technologies.

 

Project “Grandparents on the Internet” has seen 11 successful editions and now launches the campaign to join the “Network of Knowledge Volunteers” that is present in 9 European countries and is promoted by the Fondazione Mondo Digitale.

 

Some of the protagonists of these initiatives met at the Rome Campidoglio to present awards to the best tutors from the last edition, kick of the new competition and Project Isis for the next two years. The project is related to the European Year for Active Ageing and Solidarity Amongst Generations.

 

“I thought I could use it to order my recipes and remember important dates, but now I use it to check on my pension, my blood tests and to organize fantastic holidays with friends,” explains Maria Palpini (83), one of the 20,000 elders who were trained thanks to the project. “Volunteering means that nobody gives and nobody takes, it’s just an exchange of knowledge and free time and one learns to like each other.”

 

“Intergenerational solidarity in digital learning is now a need, in a moment of profound economic, cultural and social crisis,” explains Alfonso Molina, Professor of Technology Strategy at the University of Edinburgh and Scientific Director of the Fondazione Mondo Digitale. “It is essential to provide students with the tools and abilities that are necessary to face the challenges of the 21st century through experiential education, learning by doing.” Over the course of the years, 15,500 students have been trained as tutors, who then taught elders how to use a computer with the help of on-line “training kits”. Furthermore, 15 laboratories to recycle used PCs have been activated and they have collected 900 computers to use in schools.

“Nowadays, twelve-year-olds become billionaires by creating apps,” explains Prof. Molina. “However, we also have 6 million young individuals in Europe that abandon school before eighth grade. In Italy, school dropouts reach nearly 20%, well above the continental average. What is even more worrying is that 22.7% of young people aged 15-29 that does absolutely nothing – neither work, nor study – and Italy is less competitive than Greece.” In addition, in Italy, there are 147 elders for every 100 young people, and only 3% of the over-seventy-fives use the Internet, while only a tenth has a PC (DatiCensis, Isfol, Istat).

 

“In this scary panorama, that seems to indicate an ecological catastrophe before the end of the century,” explains Molina, “we see that the third sector demonstrates the best growth rate in Europe with enterprises increasing by 8.4% and creating 650,000 new jobs.” There are 100 million volunteers in Europe; 5 only in Italy. “Therefore, the ability to unite the real and the virtual, exchanging and sharing knowledge amongst generations, this knowledge volunteering becomes fundamental to face the challenges of the future, but also to develop personally and socially.”

 

“Tearing down the digital divide, allowing everyone to use new technology is a great opportunity,” explains Deputy Mayor of Rome Luigi Nieri. Indeed, this is where “Grandparents on the Internet” was born and then expanded to 18 other regions. “The magic word here is volunteering in an epoch that is characterized by money. The objective is to allow every citizen to find any necessary certification directly online without having to go to a physical building and wonder where his application has ended up.” (Elena Filicori)