Innovation: Riga Active Seniors Alliance (RASA)
Latvia
AAI Domain: Independent, healthy and secure living (lifelong learning)
Being prepared for a good life in old age is an important part of the life course as is primary and secondary education for life skills and preparing for the world of work and social roles. As societies age there is an increasing need for social innovations to develop institutions and programmes that prepare older people for the next stage in life so that more people are able to fulfil their maximum potential in terms of health and well-being for as long as possible.
In Latvia, Riga Active Seniors Alliance (RASA) was established in 2010 to promote social inclusion for older people – who are defined as being 50 years of age or older – by promoting and supporting active and healthy lifestyles and preventing age-related diseases. RASA works through a participatory model with older people to mobilise their experiences and resources to enhance their health and well-being. They also work in partnership with a range of organisations in both the public and non-governmental sector to realise the ambition of active and healthy ageing for all.
Internationally, RASA is affiliated to the European Federation for Older People (EURAG) and seeks to extend the developments achieved in other parts of the European Union to Riga, Latvia and the wider Baltic region. This is to be achieved through the promotion of volunteering, lifelong learning and inter-generational activities. Examples of the projects that RASA has developed include ‘To Act in Good Health’ with Riga City Council’s welfare department to provide classes at Sigulda senior’s centre on nutrition, physical activity such as Nordic walking and life skills for older people.
The RASA Education Institute is an accredited provider of training courses in foreign languages (English, French and German), computers and ICT and textiles. It also offers a child care training course that enables older women to then be matched with young families to provide child care for which they can receive up to €142 per month, a valuable means of supplementing income for older people while enabling parents with young children to continue to engage in paid work.
RASA also offers tai chi/eastern gymnastics, fitness classes and healthy nutrition guidance that can be of particular benefit to older men. They also collaborate on a pre-retirement lecture course provided by the City of Riga to prepare older people for life after they have left paid work. Some courses are free although most have relatively modest fees for participants in order to cover part of the costs of the activities.
In terms of active ageing, RASA provides a range of opportunities for lifelong learning that focus on how to age well. The ethos of RASA is to work with older people in a partnership to promote empowerment and knowledge transfer within and across generations that recognises the assets and expertise that older people have while also seeking to develop the skills that they will need to live well in old age. This includes the promotion of volunteering and the development of new roles, such as child care, that can contribute to active and healthy ageing.