PROJECT TITLE

Values alliance project “Table of Generations”

FOCUS: Dialogue between generations with hybrid participation options
TARGET GROUPS: all population groups, especially older people and young people aged 12 and over.
LOCATIONS: At 30 locations in Bavaria, in all administrative districts
FRAME: a Bavaria-wide project of the Bavarian Values Alliance Foundation
PERIOD: 2023-2024
PROJECT MANAGER: dieKunstBauStelle e.V.
PROJECT IDEA: Wolfgang Hauck
COOPERATION PARTNERS: Bayerischer Jugendring, Bayerischer Volkshochschulverband, BrückenBauen gUG, International Foundation for the Promotion of Culture and Civilization, Landesvereinigung Kulturelle Bildung Bayern, Netzwerk Politische Bildung
FUNDING: Stiftung Wertebündnis Bayern, Heidehof Stiftung, retla e.V.
POSITIONS: We are looking for employees! Jobs and vacancies

FORMAT

The project emerged from an ideas workshop for socio-cultural events with hybrid formats. The task was to develop a format for an intergenerational dialog for the personal exchange of life and professional experience.

Starting point

We have found that the exchange between generations is decreasing more and more. Contacts between the generations are reduced to holidays and festivities. This limits the passing on of knowledge, the transfer of life experience and values. Young people and adolescents lack the life experiences of the generations that they need for their career choices, life decisions and the development of their own set of values.

As part of our regional history project(BayernHistoryApp), an 87-year-old woman said disappointedly and lonely: “You don’t talk to each other“. That was the beginning of an idea that we called the Table of Generations into a project of “talking to each other again”.

What is the “table of generations”, what can it be?

The “Table of Generations” as a dialog format is intended to offer a transfer of knowledge, life experience and values for young people and adolescents. The aim is to share life experiences in the area of career choices, life decisions and the development of one’s own set of values.

For the older generation, the dialog should provide access to and understanding of the problems, values and challenges of the younger generation. The aim is to experience the special value of conversations for the development of mutual appreciation.

The “Table of Generations” values alliance project is a moderated and organized discussion format and is intended to initiate and establish regular meetings at 30 locations in all of Bavaria’s administrative districts. The aim is to create a basis for dialog and exchange between the different generations.

A sample discussion guide was developed for the dialog format with moderators, young people and older people and has already been tested in practice.

As a rule, the dialogues begin with a joint reflection phase and end with individual life stories and a discussion of values at a general level. Particularly impressive and exemplary stories are to be recorded and collected for a separate publication. An example of a general introduction could be the topic “My first day at school” as a key experience of the change of perspective from the private frame of reference to public life.

The varied format, which will be accompanied by coffee and cake, begins with a biographically focused “World Café” in smaller groups and continues later in one-to-one meetings, like speed dating. Another format in further rounds will be “the living library”.

The offer is aimed at teenagers and young adults aged 12 and over. On the one hand as participants, but also to be involved as assistants by developing the questions together and modifying the sample discussion guide individually for the respective location and target groups.

Ideally, the number of participants should be between 16 and 28. For three hours, the presenters will guide you through the “Table of Generations” format. For people who are unable to participate in person due to physical or health restrictions, the format can also be carried out in hybrid form. Technical support and advice is also offered.

Organizational framework

At each location, the kick-off is to be held with an initial “table of generations” at which the local network is also to be activated.

To this end, the project partners coordinate one to three months before the event about the local contacts for planning the rooms, participant management and public relations. During the first kick-off, moderators will also be trained for the continuation in order to be able to continue the format independently on site.

Volunteers and contributors from the partner organizations are addressed. A simple documentation recording the most interesting results will be produced for each location during the events. This documentation is included in the evaluation of the project.

The project management, coordination and organization of the implementation of the value alliance project is provided by the association dieKunstBauStelle with honorary staff. In the course of the project, the project partners will also take on organizational responsibilities and help shape the project.

2021 Photo Conny Kurz - Table of generations

OBJECTIVES

We want to bring young people and older people together as contemporary witnesses in an intergenerational dialog and familiarize them with modern technology as a means of communication.
In this way, we want to overcome the inhibitions and contact barriers of the target groups.
Between 12 and 24 participants should be involved in the respective events.
At the end, there should be concrete ideas and experiences to give the format of a dialog-based storytelling of local and regional contemporary history and to plan the expansion to other communities in the district of Landsberg and the city of Augsburg.

EXPERIENCES 2021

We invited citizens from various locations to a kick-off event and multiplier training for the first time in December 2021 . At the time, the event was also supplemented with online conferencing technology due to the coronavirus pandemic. This enabled the Table of Generations could be held safely.

We accompanied the discussions with professional moderation. Methods such as speed dating, fish bowl, world café and open space were used. We have bundled, expanded and optimized this as a dialogue format.

Our group of participants used it to discuss biographical topics and also philosophical content. This form of moderated dialog and interviews led to an intergenerational conversation.

We can pool our experience in a project of the Bavarian Values Alliance with cooperation partners and extend it to the whole of Bavaria. This is followed by training for the moderator, press work and public relations work to publicize the project.

From May 2023, we plan to initiate 10 start-ups in various locations and aim to form a total of 30 local groups by 2024. The networks of the alliance partners VHS Bayern, Brücken bauen e.V. and the Landesvereinigung Kulturelle Bildung e.V. can accompany the format with modules such as lectures, readings and biographical storytelling

LOCATIONS IN BAVARIA

The Table of Generations is to be extended as a dialog format to the whole of Bavaria.

Realization 2023

Bamberg, Upper Franconia
Augsburg, Swabia
Munich, Upper Bavaria

Planning for 2024

Augsburg, Swabia
Wasserburg am Inn, Upper Bavaria
Neumarkt in the Upper Palatinate
Abendberg, Middle Franconia
Passau, Lower Bavaria
Swabian Academy in Irsee Monastery, Swabia
Straubing, Lower Bavaria
Deggendorf, Lower Bavaria
Aschaffenburg, Lower Franconia
Lauf an der Pegnitz, Middle Franconia
Hof, Lower Franconia
Selb, Upper Franconia
Wunsiedel, Upper Franconia
Schwabach, Middle Franconia
Marktoberdorf, Swabia
Freyung, Lower Bavaria

Other locations will follow, such as Aschaffenburg, Lower Franconia and/or Hof, Selb, Wunsiedel, Schwabach, Degendorf, Lauf an der Pegnitz, Marktoberdorf or Freyung-Gafenau.