The closing conference of the European Year for Active Ageing and Solidarity between Generations in Slovenia took place on 5 November in the Congress Center Brdo pri Kranju.

The event, organised by Ministry of Labour, Family and Social Affairs, and the Anton Trstenjak Institute, gathered more than 300 participants, representatives of ministries, senior and non-governmental sector organisations, as well as experts in the fields of active ageing and intergenerational cooperation.

Ksenija Ramovš, director of the Anton Trstenjak Institute opened the conference followed by an homage paid to the memory of Marija Gregorčič Kržič, an expert on family and intergenerational relations, and a reading by the famous Slovenian poet and national ambassador of the EY2012, Neža Maurer, of two inspirational poems on friendship and ageing.

Comments and conclusions about the EY2012 were then given by President Danilo Türk, honorary sponsor of the Year in Slovenia; Andrej Vizjak, the Minister of Labour, Family and Social Affairs; Tomaž Gantar, the Minister of Health; Mojca Škrinjar, the Ministry of Education, Science, Culture and Sport State Secretary; Marjan Sedmak, the President of AGE Platform Europe; and Nataša Goršek Mencin, the Head of the European Commission Representation in Slovenia.

In his speech, President Türk pointed out the need for cooperation between generations. The intergenerational bridge “must be firm and fair”, he said.

Vladimir Špidla, ex European Commissioner for Employment, Social Affairs and Equal Opportunities, gave the first plenary lecture on ageing and intergenerational solidarity in contemporary societies. Asghar Zaidi, who spoke on behalf of the project team at the European Centre Vienna (Austria), then presented the first results of the research on Active Ageing Indicators and Active Ageing Index for EU 27 countries, underlining the negative employment index for Slovenia and need for policy actions.

Next, a roundtable discussion offered an overview of a survey on the needs, potentials and standpoints of people, aged 50 years and more in Slovenia in relation to health care, independent living and elderly care, intergenerational solidarity and violence, socio-economic status, poverty and early retirement, happiness, and enthusiasm.

The conference continued with an overview of EY2012 Slovene activities, presented by Patricia Čular, the Ministry of Labour, Family and Social Affairs State Secretary, and Aleš Kenda, National EY2012 Coordinator, as well as the intergenerational representatives of the National Youth Council of Slovenia, the Slovenian Institute for Adult Education and the Slovenian Federation of Pensioners’ Organisations. The Ministry expressed its desire to maintain its support of these activities in the future.

The last panel of the conference was devoted to the international project Central European Ageing Platform for an Ageing Society, which underlined the lack of intergenerational workplaces, and value given to elderly workers in Slovenia.

The conference was accompanied with an exhibition of 10 posters describing best practices in the field of active ageing and solidarity between generations, which are being carried out in Slovenian non-governmental organisations, schools and cities.

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Picture gallery of the event.

Click here to browse through a selection of EY2012-related initiatives in Slovenia.

For more information about the European Year 2012 in Slovenia you may visit this website.