Across Borders & Generations Project

Across Borders & Generations Project

LGNI are delighted to have led on this intergenerational, cross-border project in partnership with Fingal County Council and funded by the Department of Foreign Affairs Ireland 'Shared Island Civic Fund'.

The project facilitated the development of locally driven intergenerational initiatives in two communities: Mayobridge NI and Balbriggan, Dublin. LGNI and Fingal Council  developed the initial intergenerational partnerships and facilitated a series of workshops that brought them together on both sides of the border, in preparation for local work and to share learning of their experience. Younger and older people from each of the two communities participated in workshops facilitated by LGNI including jointly identify the issues and challenges that both generations currently face in their community, discussing ageism and its effect on the perceptions of older & younger people, exploring potential collaborative benefits and opportunities to share resources and experience across generations.

The two intergenerational groups, one in each community, identified a project to help overcome the challenges. Both groups presented their projects at a joint meeting and will develop a project plan with support from Linking Generations Northern Ireland. The groups will work on their intergenerational projects in their communities over a 6-8 week period with support from Linking Generations and local facilitators i.e. youth leader or community development worker.

All participants met mid-project for updates and discussions on their experience of resolving the issues and working across the generations. Participants came together at the end of the project to enjoy a fun trip to Carlingford and to discuss their experience and how to further develop projects across the ages and across borders.  Avila Media worked with us to provide a video of some intergenerational thoughts from our participants - see below!

Download the project report here - Across Borders & Generations Report Launched! – Linking Generations NI

The project supported Linking Generations to identify challenges to intergenerational practice in both communities to feed into guidelines on best practice. While Linking Generations has extensive experience developing intergenerational practice in the North of Ireland, the project will enhance cross border collaboration and will assist it to work more effectively with communities south of the border.

Check out project updates:

First project workshop Balbriggan - Cross border intergenerational session in Balbriggan! – Linking Generations NI

Project Planning sessions - Cross Border Intergenerational Planning Workshop in Mayobridge! – Linking Generations NI

Sharing Learning session Newry - Across Borders & Generations Groups Share Learning! – Linking Generations NI

Intergenerational Trip to Carlingford -Across Borders & Generations trip to Carlingford – Linking Generations NI

Across Borders & Generations Report Launched - Across Borders & Generations Report Launched! – Linking Generations NI