On a mid-Autumn’s day 38 European City Network members, from 13 European counties, gathered at Braga’s Educational Farm.
Here we were welcomed by Filipe Fernandes, Advisor to the Mayor, who told us how school children and the elderly volunteer at the Quinta, which provides food for local care homes and schools alike. In this way, the Quinta engages people across the generations as the elderly share their knowledge about traditional farming practices, while the youngsters enthusiastically harvest and process the produce.
Following this warm welcome address, Joaquim Castro de Freitas gave us an introduction to Braga’s intergenerational policies, addressing both the challenges the city faces in terms of multicultural integration across religions and generations. We also learnt about the City of Braga’s progress in terms of becoming a certified Child-Friendly City. After a short walk around the farm the group regathered for a traditional Portuguese evening meal.The next day, we walked to Braga’s Youth Centre, which doubles up as a Youth Hostel. This not only facilitates engagement with people of all generations from around the world, but also means the Centre is financially self-sustaining.
Here we also took the opportunity to use their dynamic living room space for a workshop in which our member cities could take a deeper dive into some of the common challenges they face in terms of Senior & Intergenerational Participation. Using the Personas methodology, we focused on 3 common challenges: the culture of aging; public spaces for all generations; and, digital participation and integration.
After lunch and a short coffee break, we visited the Human Power Hub. Here, Carlos de Sousa Santos, co-founder of the Human Power Hub, presented Braga’s Social Innovation Centre’s experience of running intergenerational programmes. This Social Innovation Centre establishes a hybrid model of social innovation which combines the strengths of civil society, the public, private and educational sectors, and citizens in a disruptive way. We were given a tour of the facilities, and even allowed to play with their lego!
We then learnt more about the current projects to come out of the Innovation Centre, namely ACT 0 to 100 and UM novo lar (A New Home). The former project looks to combat social exclusion and loneliness, with a particular focus on the Roma community. By promoting interconnection between different generations and fostering empowerment and autonomy throughout a person’s life, ACT 0 to 100 reinforces social and intergenerational cohesion. Weheras Um novo lar promotes an intergenerational living experience through the sharing of accommodation between a senior person and a university student.
After a long day of intensive workshops and presentations, the group enjoyed a networking drinks reception. A short break allowed participants to explore a little of Braga’s historic city center before we gathered again for an evening meal. 
On the final day, we once again strolled together though Braga’s streets and into the Municipal Market, which is host to Braga’s Senior Academy. Here we were treated to a fantastic performance of traditional music, singing and dancing by some of Braga’s oldest residents. It was a wonderfully heartwarming end to a fantastic few days learning more about how to engage citizens of all generations. We rounded up the visit with a Reflection Round where we gathered personal and professional highlights, as well as feedback on how to improve the experience for next time.
It only remains for me to extend our thanks once again to the team in Braga for a very memorable experience which left us all inspired by the wonderful people we met!