WeShareWeCare aimed to provide a shared housing and intergenerational connection service in Europe.
Started: 2019
Funding: Erasmus+ Key Action 2
Project budget: 351,690 €
Length: 3 years
Partners: 6
Intergenerational and intercultural homesharing programmes are initiatives that are deeply rooted in their local context and anchored in the concept of solidarity between generations.
Homesharing means that two people who are not related live under the same roof. It allows the owner, normally a senior person, to have some company and the other person, normally young, to have accommodation.
In addition, homesharing is a possible way for universities to improve the reception and integration of international students, such as those in mobility. Therefore, the potential of international mobility can be better exploited. In this scenario, students can avoid isolation and have more opportunities to discover the host country’s culture and get in direct contact with the local community. Moreover, intercultural immersion in the host culture contributes to breaking down prejudices, fostering openness and respect for each other, strengthening social cohesion in the long-term.
Homesharing has a long tradition in some countries and few examples in others. The lack of a legal framework (except in France) does not help these types of programmes to become widespread, preventing international students and senior citizens from benefiting from these types of initiatives.
Moreover, homesharing programmes are highly dependent on their local contexts, mainly managed by intergenerational and intercultural local associations. Nevertheless, it has been shown that other stakeholders that would benefit from these programmes, such as Higher Education Institutions (HEIs), are not well-informed about these programmes across Europe.
As a result, for the past 3 years, the WeShareWeCare project has been committed to changing this situation. Building on the results of a former Erasmus+ funded project (Toit+Moi) they have worked towards an ambitious objective: to assess the obstacles of homesharing in Europe and suggest how it could be improved.
All the results of this project are available on the project website:
- studies that explain the factors that slow down or stimulate intergenerational and intercultural experiences,
- tool for the actors of intergenerational and intercultural cohabitation and activities,
- training kit for intergenerational and intercultural cohabitation and activities,
- recommendations for policy makers at all levels,
- information on intergenerational and intercultural cohabitation and activities.
Partners: ESN France, CNAV (France), Solidarios (Spain), 1Toit2Ages (Belgium), Réseau CoSi (France), EUF