• Marie-Françoise Fuchs, founder of Old’Up France and staunch supporter of Pass It On since its inception, was decorated with the Légion d’Honneur.
• Himanshu Rath, founder of Agewell Foundation and our country liaison in New Delhi, was honored with an award from the prestigious Nation Building Institution of Thailand.
• Pass It On Network and the Life Planning Network signed a formal partnership agreement.
• We welcomed our new liaisons, Mira Pirdeni, founder of the Albania Society for All Ages (ASAG), and Sheena Edwards, founder of Switched On Seniors in Perth, Australia.
• Liz Fideler’s eagerly awaited Handbook on Aging and Work was published. It includes a chapter by the Pass It On Network co-founders.
• Moira Allan and Jan Hively’s interview about Pass It On by Ingun Bol (Netherlands), founder of Wize Move Society, was livestreamed on Facebook.
• Moira Allan, our International Coordinator, had a fruitful trip to Budapest to speak at the EURAG conference. See the Budapest Declaration here.
• Gustavo Boog, our liaison in Sao Paola, Brazil, started a series of articles on Living Well.
• Group meetings are scheduled for Pass It On’s 3 Priority Groups: Age Advocacy, Digital Inclusion, and Lifelong Learning and Earning. See full details here.
• We’ve updated our website to facilitate direct registration for our Global PIONeers OPEN HOUSE sessions and 50/50 Online Conversations. See here.
• Our Open House sessions in September showed our network’s attraction to active agers with a wide variety of experience.
• The launch of our Global PIONeer 50/50 Online Conversations focused on The Magic of Networks (view video here) and attracted more than 80 registered participants. Digital Inclusion on October 18, Intergenerational Dialogue on November 15, and Grandkids and Me on December 13 have been planned to fill out 2021.

Himanshu Rath, founder of Agewell Foundation and Pass It On’s liaison for New Delhi, India, received a prestigious award on September 8 from the Nation-Building Institute of Thailand in recognition for the outstanding work that Agewell Foundation accomplishes day-by-day with an army of volunteers interacting with 25 000 needy elders across India. Read more and view video here.

When you talk to Mira Pirdeni, founder of the Albanian Society for All Ages (ASAG), the only voice for older women in Albania, you feel energized. We were together in Budapest in September at the EURAG conference, and I enjoyed a first-hand account of her work that includes fostering entrepreneurship for older women. Read more.

Sheena Edwards, our new liaison in the metropolitan area of Perth, Australia, is proud of how her own need to learn about iPads has grown into a vibrant, dynamic constellation of groups where everyone shares their digital knowledge. The key has been to share what use and value a device can have in our day-to-day lives. Read more.

Decanting Experience in a series of articles starting now
Gustavo is a coach and writer. He has decades of experience working with people of all generations as they make decisions to be more fulfilled, to have clarity of goals, and meaning in life. He will be decanting his experience in a series of articles on the Pass It On Global Connector, starting with Respect. He represents Sage-ing International in Brazil and is a supporter of the Pass It On Network. His answers to our Quick Fire questions were favorite color is orange, favorite smell, the forest and nature, best food, Feijoada, typical Brazilian dish of black beans and pork, favorite word, gratitude and sound – classical music. Read here.

The Pass It On Network & Life Planning Network Partnership
The Pass It On Network is delighted to formally confirm the informal partnership with the Life Planning Network that has steadily grown stronger during the last decade, founded on our common values and goals.  We are grateful for LPN’s generous outreach.   We will be happy to help spread the expertise and experience of Life Planning Network's members through our worldwide network of positive ageing advocates. We are excited about the opportunities for friendship, advocacy, and collaborative enterprise that we can grow and share.  "We are the ones we've been waiting for!" (And as our touchstone reminds us: “The time of the lone wolf is over”.)  See LPN’s statement here.

Here is your material for teaching and learning about Extended Work Life!  Our colleague, Elizabeth (Liz) Fideler, USA, is Editor for the new, comprehensive Rowman & Littlefield Handbook on Aging and Work that was published mid- September.   While focusing on all aspects of the rapid growth of mature workers in the American workforce, it also describes labor force participation trends that are underway across the globe.  The next to last chapter, “Social Policy and the Older Worker: An International Perspective,” was written by the Pass It On Network’s co-founders, Jan Hively and Moira Allan.

 

The Handbook’s 26 chapters describe the many factors driving an increase in extended work life.  In tandem with changes in the aging experience, retirement itself is in flux. Alternatives to traditional exits from the workforce are discussed, such as alternative work arrangements, bridge employment, unretirement, and senior entrepreneurship. Adding to the scope of the handbook, PION’s co-founders provide a valuable global overview of policy initiatives concerning older workers, drawing on examples from other countries’ policies, programs, and practices.

 

The handbook’s editor, Elizabeth (Liz) Fideler, is a founding member of the Sloan Research Network on Aging and Work.  Among her other publications are Women Still at Work: Professionals Over Sixty and On the Job, Men Still at Work: Professionals Over Sixty and On the Job, and most recently, Aging, Work, and Retirement.  Liz has written an article for this Global PIONeer Gazette that describes the Handbook on Aging and Work more thoroughly. Here’s the link to her article (which understates the extraordinary quality of what she has achieved!)

Ingun Bol’s WIZE Move Society is an online community for the +50 generation that is re-creating the future.  Ingun and Tatiana Rowson livestreamed on Facebook their interview with Jan Hively and Moira Allan to find out “how to pass it on.” The exchange was very stimulating.  See it here.

Note these dates for the Priority Group meetings:

See full details here.

Silvia Zweifel, Pass It On’s Innovative Thinking Partner and PIONeer liaison for Argentina, is presenting at the European Union for Systemics Congress (Athens, Greece). You are invited to her workshop “Prospective imagination: art-science to bring about an Economía AMABLE.” Free online participation. See background to Silvia Zweifel's work here.

Thursday, 7 October at 3 pm ART (Argentina Time)

In Spanish: “The Silver Economy and its Strategic Opportunities" is the theme for the virtual seminar of the Centro de Innovación Social at the Universidad de San Andrés, a private university located in Victoria, Buenos Aires, Argentina. Both the challenges and innovative opportunities for positive longevity that companies currently facing will be addressed.  Register here. 

TARGETING METABESITY 2021 takes on some of the most critical issues in healthcare today including chronic diseases, moving beyond treatment to prevention and shifting from addressing diseases to extending healthy life span.  Program details and free registration found here: Targeting Metabesity 2021

Tuesday, 12 October at 1 pm EDT or Wednesday, 13 October at 7 am CET
It’s Open House online every second Tuesday and Wednesday of the Month for new subscribers and those who want to explore Pass it on Network with its co-founders and a few community members in our Zoom Room. Check times and register here.

Digital Inclusion for Older People is the topic for October’s PIONeer 50/50 Online Conversation.  Find out what’s being done to bridge the digital divide with two technology gurus based in Silicon Valley, California:  Richard Adler, a Distinguished Fellow at Institute for the Future (IFTF) and principal of People & Technology, and Ryan Kawamoto, the Regional Director for Senior Planet and Older Adults Technology Services from AARP. One half of the session will focus on participant questions/comments and discussion. Jan Hively will be our facilitator.  Register here.

Friday to Sunday, 29 – 31 October 2021

Monday, 1 November - Wednesday, 3 November

Saturday, 6 November at 5 pm SAST
Pass It On Network’s Southern Africa Network Monthly Meeting with Liaisons from Zimbabwe, Botswana, Zambia, South Africa and Lesotho meets on the first Saturday of the month.

The theme of IFA’s 15th Global Conference on Ageing, both virtually and in-person, is Rights Matter. View details and registration.

Saturday, 20 November - Sunday, 21 November

An invitation to exercise your journalistic talents! We are eager to hear what is happening in your part of the world. Please share your news by sending us an article for the Global PIONeer Gazette and the Global Connector. Our goal is to showcase articles that have a substantive, compelling value for Pass It On Network's audience. Check the guidelines here and send your articles to Andie Gordon.