Global Intergenerational Week 2024

Global Intergenerational Week 2024

Global Intergenerational Week 2024 ran from 24 to 30 April 2024. The campaign aims to “celebrate the power of intergenerational relationships” and encourage “everyone to embrace intergenerational practice and relationships.”

Each day of Global Intergenerational Week 2024 had a different theme:

• Day 1 (24/04): Let’s Raise Intergenerational Awareness
• Day 2 (25/04): Let’s Build Intergenerational Partnerships
• Day 3 (26/04): Let’s Combat Loneliness and Social Isolation
• Day 4 (27/04): Let’s Celebrate Intergenerational Spaces and Communities
• Day 5 (28/04): Let’s Break Down Age Barriers
• Day 6 (29/04): EU day – Solidarity between Generations
• Day 7 (30/04): Let’s Build Intergenerational Workplaces

The campaign is organised and coordinated by Generations Working Together, a charity which describes itself as the “nationally recognised centre of excellence supporting the development and integration of intergenerational work across Scotland.”

The charity defines intergenerational practice as aiming to:

bring people together in purposeful, mutually beneficial activities which promote greater understanding and respect between generations and contributes to building more cohesive communities. Intergenerational practice is inclusive, building on the positive resources that the younger and older have to offer each other and those around them.

Intergenerational Manifesto 2021

Ahead of the 2021 Scottish Parliament elections, Generations Working Together published an Intergenerational Manifesto 2021. The manifesto said “communities today live in silos segregated by age” and there is a risk of “both younger people and older people becom[ing] increasingly isolated.”

The manifesto argued that intergenerational connections can help tackle ageism, loneliness and ill health. It added:

Academics agree that bringing generations together can improve our wellbeing, feelings of safety, as well as bringing new skills and friendships. Evidence highlights that having no intergenerational connections can contribute to a lack of understanding of the ageing process, age stereotypes and prejudices, and lack of new skills and information.

Being connected to different generations is vital when our society becomes disjointed and the levels of loneliness and isolation increase.

The manifesto called for Scotland to become an “intergenerational nation” by 2030 and outlined three areas of focus:

• Embed intergenerational approaches in governance and policy making
• Create more intergenerational places and spaces
• Increase knowledge and understanding of intergenerational approaches

These were accompanied by 15 specific calls for actions, including (but not limited to):

• Establish intergenerational champions in all governmental and public bodies.
• Ensure policymakers evaluate the impact of policy on all generations.
• Ensure appropriate representation from all generations in the governance of public sector bodies.
• Ensure an intergenerational dimension to public and community engagement activity.
• Promote and support intergenerational housing projects.
• Encourage the development of civic and public spaces that can be used by all generations.
• Support the establishment of intergenerational hubs/learning spaces in education establishments.
• Deliver a national campaign to challenge ageism.
• Embed learning on age and ageing well in school.
• Embed intergenerational learning in the training of key education, health and social care professionals.

The manifesto also included links to research on intergenerational relationships and practice (page 10).

Further reading

Intergenerational practice is an area that can potentially cut across several policy areas, including, but not limited to, housing and planning, health and social care, and childcare and education.

The list below provides a brief selection of links to further information and research on this broad area.

Charities which encourage intergenerational practice

• Linking Generations Northern Ireland (charity which is part of executive team of Global Intergenerational Week)
• Beth Johnson Foundation (charity which is part of executive team of Global Intergenerational Week)
• Intergenerational England
• United for all ages
• Generations Working Together, Intergenerational approaches to improving health and wellbeing (PDF) (undated).
• Generations Working Together, Learning Through Intergenerational Practice (PDF) (undated).
• Generations Working Together, Creating Intergenerational Communities.
• United for all ages, The next generation: how intergenerational interaction improves life chances of children and young people (PDF), January 2019.
• United for all ages, News (links to news articles and reports)

Reports and research

• Housing Learning and Improvement Network, Intergenerational Housing.
• Rebecca Whear et al, What is the effect of intergenerational activities on the wellbeing and mental health of older people?: A systematic review, Campbell systematic reviews, 19(4), December 2023.
• Resolution Foundation, An intergenerational audit for the UK 2023, 13 November 2023
• World Health Organisation, Connecting generations: planning and implementing interventions for intergenerational contact, October 2023.
• Institute for Fiscal Studies, Intergenerational mobility in the UK, 7 September 2023
• Welsh Government, Intergenerational practice: bringing generations together, May 2022.
• World Health Organisation, Global report on ageism, March 2021.
• Housing Learning and Improvement Network, Communal and intergenerational living in the Netherlands and Denmark, November 2019.
• APPG on Social Integration, Healing the Generational Divide: Interim Report on Intergenerational Connection (PDF), May 2019
• Welsh Government, Key mechanisms in intergenerational practices: effectiveness at reducing loneliness/social isolation, May 2019.
• BMC Public Health, The impact of intergenerational programs on social capital in Japan: a randomized population-based cross-sectional study, 2019.
• Age UK, Making Intergenerational Connections – an Evidence Review (PDF), 2017.
• Lords Intergenerational Fairness and Provision Committee, Tackling intergenerational unfairness (PDF), April 2019.
• HM Treasury, House of Lords Select Committee on Intergenerational Fairness and Provision report on ‘Tackling intergenerational unfairness’: Government’s response to recommendations (PDF), July 2019.

Press articles and blogs

• Guardian, Young, old and marvellous: how a care home built a nursery – and everyone thrived, February 2024.
• co.uk, Benefits of intergenerational nursery activities, January 2024.
• Care Management Matters, Intergenerational England – Building on the success of collaborative projects in the care sector, August 2023.
• Inside Housing, The potential of intergenerational housing is only just beginning to be explored in this country, July 2023.
• The Times, Inside the care home where every age group lives side by side, May 2023.
• Children and Young People Now, Intergenerational co-located care, Japan, 3 January 2023.
• Nursery World, Nurseries urged to interact with older people to boost children’s life chances, January 2019.
• Nursery World, EYFS Best Practice – Intergenerational practice, April 2019.
• University of Bath, How ‘Old People’s Home for 4 year olds’ might force a shake-up in social care, 2017.