Gent Gran Lifelong Learning for the Elderly

The phenomenon of University Outreach Classrooms began in Toulouse, France, in 1973. Those first projects aimed to provide a programme of diverse and enriching training and sociocultural activities, which would be adapted to the needs of senior citizens, i.e. people over 60 years old who wanted to continue to broaden their knowledge. The philosophy of those early days soon became established, and spread to an increasing number of regions, including Osona, where the Gent Gran Lifelong Learning Classrooms were established over 26 years ago by what was then known as the Vic University Studies.

The first lecture by the Osona Gent Gran Lifelong Learning Classrooms took place on 2 October 1994, after an initiative by its first president, Lluís Tort, a chemist and University Studies lecturer. Fifteen years later, the first lecture by the Centelles Gent Gran Lifelong Learning Classrooms was organised by Josep M. Prat, and took place on 18 April 2009. This second classroom was created as an alternative to the Osona Classroom, which was very well established by that point, with a three-year waiting list.

Both Classrooms are affiliated to UVic. According to the General Secretary of UVic-UCC, Anna Sabata, the concept of classrooms for senior citizens is linked to lifelong learning, "and the University's mission is to provide this space for older people because it gives them a better understanding of the world in which we live, and enables them to be active participants in it." Furthermore, the vast potential of the Classrooms lies in their socialising role, because the people involved can "share their concerns and interests on various subjects, which can also include their leisure interests, such as music," concludes Sabata. The members of the Osona and Centelles classrooms are part of the UVic community. In other words, they are university students who can benefit from the advantages that the University offers all its students. Within the framework of the Senior Campus, they also have access to a range of subjects that enables them to register for bachelor's degree course subjects, such as Cultural Journalism and Evolutionary and Health Psychology.

The cornerstone of the work of the University Extension Classrooms is its weekly programme of lectures, in which a specialist speaker shares their knowledge or expertise with the audience. The tone and high academic standards of the talks are consistent with the university environment, but the emphasis is informative, so that all those attending are able to understand diverse concepts ranging from quantum physics to classical music. The Classrooms also organise cultural outings and trips around Catalonia on a regular basis, to complement the lectures with social activities that are equally enriching. In addition, the Osona Classroom also has an amateur choir which some of its members attended for weekly rehearsals and sporadic concerts before the pandemic.

The Osona Gent Gran Lifelong Learning Classroom

The history of the Osona Gent Gran Lifelong Learning Classroom began when Ricard Torrents, who was at that time director general of the University Vic Studies, and Jordi Aragay, president of the Permanent Training Group and the Catalan Lifelong Learning Classrooms (AFOPA), signed an agreement to create a classroom for the senior citizens of Osona. According to the institution's first statutes, the main aim of the Classroom was the active dissemination of culture among senior citizens within the university sphere.

The Osona Classroom currently has a community of 1,200 members from many towns across the region. The venue for the lectures has changed over the years as the number of members and therefore those attending the lectures has increased. They have taken place at the Palau Bojons, the Leather Art Museum, the Sucre building, the Caixa de Manlleu auditorium and the UVic Aula Magna. However, the Classroom outgrew all the venues until it moved to the Atlàntida Theatre in Vic, which is the largest auditorium in the city.

Practically all the seats in the theatre's main hall were filled every Wednesday afternoon until the onset of the pandemic, hosting an average of 600 people at every event. The members of the Osona Classroom has become younger and more active in recent years, making the Classroom's activities "more large-scale, dynamic and complete," according to its president Isaac Pérez, who says that by broadcasting the lectures on television, the Classroom is continuing with its work "culturally and socially, bringing knowledge, entertainment and social life to those who participate in it."

The Centelles Gent Gran Lifelong Learning Classroom

In Centelles, the story began with the founders Josep M. Prat, the current president, Miquel Vallduriola, first vice-president of the classroom who has now retired, and Josep Mirambell. Although Prat recalls that there were some misgivings when it started, as "some people didn't think the institution would be very successful because there was already one like it in Centelles, working with senior citizens," the Centelles Classroom quickly began to gain members with the help of the AFOPA. The Classroom held lectures once a fortnight in its early days, but it has been holding them weekly for a long time in response to the demand from its 230 members.

The number of members has declined significantly in comparison with recent years due to the pandemic, but Prat nevertheless believes that the Centelles Classroom "is more alive than ever, because we are proud of the community we have created." The uptake by its participants of the solution involving holding the lectures on Zoom has been "greater than we expected," said the president, who remembers talking to the University to increase the number of viewers of the online meetings because "we had outgrown the format." Around 200 people currently follow the events every Tuesday.

Reinvention with the pandemic

The situation over the last year since the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic has had a severe impact on senior citizens, who are one of the groups most heavily affected by the virus and its consequences. The Gent Gran Lifelong Learning Classrooms also had to bring their activities to a dead halt from one day to the next in March last year. "The measure was as drastic as the circumstances required," explains the president of the Centelles Classroom, Josep M. Prat. Isaac Pérez recalls that the uncertainty was so great that the decision was taken to cancel the lectures before the lockdown and the decree issuing the state of alert were implemented.

After concluding last year without any activities, both classrooms resumed this year after a process of reinvention and adopting new formulas. In the case of the Osona Classroom, the 2020-2021 academic year began in October, with lectures broadcast live on the El 9 TV television channel, at the usual scheduled time for the lectures (5.30 pm), and they were repeated at the weekend. This system has ensured that no scheduled lectures have been missed, while substantially increasing the number of people who can benefit from the Classroom's activities. Because they are broadcast free-to-air, the audiences who record the talks exceed a thousand people - almost twice as many as those who attended the lectures in the Atlàntida theatre - and live audiences exceeding two thousand viewers have been reached.

The president of the Osona Classroom, Isaac Pérez, explains that he would like the lectures to be face-to-face, but says that the temporary solution is a positive one. "I look forward to going back to the Atlàntida, the human contact, socialising... but at least we can keep some of the Classroom's activities going, and we can continue to offer a cultural outlet for elderly people, who sometimes feel lonely due to the pandemic," he explains.

The Centelles Classroom reinvented itself in a different way, using the Zoom platform. A pilot test took place at the end of the previous year with a virtual closing ceremony for the course, which was attended by the musician Joan Vives. Since that test, the Centelles Gent Gran Lifelong Learning Classroom has brought together around 160 people in front of their computer screens every Tuesday afternoon this year. "We have managed to get senior citizens in villages like Centelles, Taradell, Aiguafreda and Hostalets actively involved. Everyone knows that Tuesday afternoon is still Classroom day," says the president, Josep M. Prat.

Apart from the weekly lectures, both classrooms have undertaken various complementary activities in which they have continued to innovate. For example, the Osona Classroom held a Christmas piano concert in hybrid format, with 80 people at the Atlantida Theatre, which was broadcast live on the El 9 TV television channel. After this experience, Isaac Pérez says that they are ready to organise other types of events. The Centelles Classroom has also organised alternative activities, such as virtual visits to the Sagrada Família and the Casa Batlló in Barcelona. Looking ahead to the next academic year, both classrooms would prefer to return to the face-to-face format, because it is much "richer and more constructive," according to the presidents themselves, but they say they are "prepared to deal with another online course, if necessary, but let's hope not."