Mindpsaces Workshop “Virtual Village”

Online

20 January 2022

On the 20th of January 2022 in the framework of the project Mindspaces, E-Seniors organised two workshops with the senior citizens in Paris, France. The main objective of the event was to observe and identify the connectivity issues of the seniors in order to create a virtual platform. “Virtual Village” is a concept of the online space where the senior citizens will gather around the different topics of their interest and create a network of like-minded citizens. The main idea is to create a “virtual village” using the contents shared by the seniors. The content can be photo-video materials, piece of art, music, literature, etc. something that reflects their memories and favourite moments.

Findings suggest that the senior citizens are a heterogeneous group in terms of their connectivity. Some of them are active users of the social networks, while others do not use social media at all. However, all the participant seniors are willing to try the new virtual platform. The seniors shared their ideas about the virtual platform, namely, they would like to interact with people and share ideas on the topics such as health, administrative issues, recommendations on the museums and cultural establishments, etc. The workshop showed that the seniors need to build a connection on their interests and invite the people to share collaborative intelligence. 

The next steps include gathering more content from the seniors and build up an online platform that enables seniors to connect and communicate via an innovative online channel, reinforcing their network. E-Seniors will test the platform with its first users once the “virtual village” is ready.