Innovation: Village Service

Austria

AAI Domains:

• Independent, healthy and secure living (care to children, care to older adults, independent living)

• Participation in society (voluntary services, social connectedness)

Many rural communities across Europe face the long-term challenge of maintaining their economic and social sustainability in the face of an ageing population along with work-related migration of younger people to larger towns and cities being greater than the number of older people who retire to the countryside in search of a better quality of life in a village. This challenge was evident in the state of Carinthia in southern Austria during the early years of the twenty-first century and a socially innovative response was developed and has matured.

The Village Service are a series of volunteer groups that are supported by professional expertise from the relevant municipalities that provide a community-based response to the challenge of sustaining viable communities across the Nock region of Carinthia. The problem and solution emerged from a conference on the future of village life held in the region in 2003 when people and policymakers realised that socially innovative solutions needed to be developed.

The Village Service is a social service provider that mobilises volunteers of all ages, although the most committed group tend to be the young old who have retired or reduced their work commitments and are able and willing to provide valuable voluntary activity for the benefit of the wider community, to provide prompt, confidential and reliable responses to the various challenges that people face living in a small village. Older people can find it increasingly difficult to live independently and maintain their home and garden, to shop for groceries or to travel to medical and other appointments.

Village Service volunteers enable older people to cope with the challenges of ageing and continue to live in their own homes. Emergency situations such as illness, hospitalisation or the death of a family member can be a huge challenge for people of any age but the Village Service can, for a modest fee, provide continuing support to get through the immediate emergency. This can include providing childcare in the person’s home, support for parents or carers so that they can cope to get through a crisis and return to normality.

The Village Service enables and supports voluntary activity, organises simply written agreements on the voluntary work to be undertaken, holds regular group meetings to assess the local situation, provides accident and liability insurance and promotes a culture of recognition and thanks for this valuable social work that sustains village life. The Village Service initiative has been recognised with a Social Capital Award in 2011 and an Elder Friendly Community Award in 2012 for the positive effects it has had in mobilising scores of volunteers across numerous villages in the region.

These awards prompted the development of a Generations Network groups that cooperates with the Village Service team to promote participation, healthy and vibrant co-existence across the generations, raising awareness and sharing knowledge on innovative solutions developed in practice. The Generations Network was funded by the state of Carinthia and the European Union as part of the process of rural development.

In relation to active ageing, the Village Service provides opportunities for voluntary activity that involves informal care for children and older adults who need it. This supplements social care provided by the municipalities in the region and enables independent living for people who would find it an increasing challenge. This process builds social capital and connectedness in small villages that are facing serious demographic and social challenges.

Dorf Service website