The Transnational Project Meeting of YoungCare took place in Gouda, Netherlands, from July 18 to 20, 2024. AFEdemy hosted the meeting, marking a significant milestone since the project’s kick-off a year and a half ago. YoungCare is a project where SHINE 2Europe collaborates with ISIS-Sozialforschung (coordinator), AFEdemy, age-friendly environments academy (the Netherlands), Vytauto Didžiojo universitetas (Lithuania), Cadiai (Italy), and Paritaet Selbsthilfe (Germany).
The focus was on developing a curriculum for an innovative learning platform dedicated to informal caregivers of young adults (18-64 years old) in need of care. Partners engaged in dynamic discussions (speed dating sessions) to assess international content and share national support services for informal caregivers. This holds particular significance for SHINE, given their leadership in the technical implementation of the learning platform. Additionally, SHINE presented updates on the Sharing and Promotion project, where they lead the workpackage, detailing upcoming plans for European roundtables with policymakers and healthcare professionals.
The meeting concluded with insightful presentations from Ginette Klein of Ieder(in) and Jos Nieveen of MantelzorgNL. They emphasized the importance of enhancing autonomy for people with disabilities through urban redesign and supporting immigrant caregivers with multilingual resources. Feedback from the presentations highlighted the need for inclusive environments to redefine perceptions of disability and impairment.
YoungCare is an Erasmus+ Project which is dedicated to promoting strategies that alleviate the challenges faced by informal caregivers and younger individuals in need of care.