Introduction

In today's society it is no longer unusual for women to become over 80 years old. These women look back on long periods of dedication to professional and domestic activities. What do we know about women aged 70+ that shape their lives with outstanding courage and social engagement? Which decisive turning-points and challenges like illness, loss of partners or children financial constraints did they have to master? Which professional, social and other activities did they take up and how do they perceive their aging? These questions will be asked by groups of women 50+, reflecting at the same time on their own life experiences.

Interview techniques will be developed and applied in each partner country. Selected will be life stories of women 70+, which will be compared on an international basis. The outcomes will provide insight into the lives of older women in Europe and their aging process and will serve as a source of inspiration for others.

The results of the joint European work will be presented on a project website in English and the languages of each partner. The project is intended to make the use of new media applications like Skype, online translation or forums tools available to the target group and foster their utilization. The participants will be introduced to creative writing and interview techniques which the women 50+ will apply when dealing with the aging experiences of the women 70+. At the end of the project a selection of vitae of interesting and inspiring women from all over Europe will be published in a calendar. It will be in English and parallel, all contents will be published in the respective national language of each country.

 

EWA Presentation on Prezi