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Civic Engagement in an Older America E-Newsletter February, 2006
UPDATE: FINAL REPORTS OF GSA'S CIVIC ENGAGEMENT FORUMS AND FOCUS GROUPS In February 2005, a series of town hall-style forums and focus
groups were held in cities across the United States as part of GSA's
Civic Engagement in an Older America Project.
A set of recommendations came out of these forums and focus groups and were submitted to the 2005 White House Conference on Aging (WHCoA), which convened December 11-14th in Washington, DC at the Marriott Wardman Park Hotel.
CIVIC ENGAGEMENT AMONG 50 RECOMMENDATIONS FROM 2005 WHCoA During the White House Conference on Aging, the 1,200 delegates approved two resolutions, highlighting civic engagement activities, to send to the President and Congress. Resolutions 56 and 59 focused on the need for expanding and promoting civic engagement and volunteer activities for current and future older adults. Specifically, the two resolutions were: " Resolution 56: Develop a national strategy for promoting
new and meaningful volunteer activities and civic engagements for
current and future seniors. To view the full list of the 50 resolutions voted by the delegates, click here (PDF). Delegates also participated in working groups to develop strategies for implementing the resolutions. The summary "Implementation Strategy Highlights Report" is available here. The final report from the conference to the White House, Congress, and governors will be issued by June and will be available on the WHCOA website. GSA'S CIVIC ENGAGEMENT PROJECT TO OFFER TWO PAPER AWARDS GSA's Civic Engagement in an Older America Initiative offers two cash awards to recognize outstanding papers on the topic of civic engagement as it relates to older adults. The Initiative will award $500 to one paper from a student or junior scholar (no more than five years post-doctorate on September 1, 2006). The Initiative will also award $1000 to one paper from a senior scholar. The paper must focus on an aspect of civic engagement and explore questions related to federal, state or local policy initiatives that maximize involvement of older adults in meaningful, productive civic roles, including work, caregiving, and volunteering. Papers must be methodologically sound and of publishable quality. Persons who wish to apply for this award must first have an abstract submitted and accepted for presentation at GSA's 59th Annual Meeting to be held in Dallas Texas, November 16-20th, 2006. Individuals wishing to be considered for this award should check the appropriate box in GSA's 2006 Call for Papers. The deadline for submitting abstracts to the Annual Meeting is March 15, 2006. Abstracts must be submitted on-line through GSA's web site. The 2006 Call for Papers will be posted online at GSA's website (www.geron.org) within the next two weeks. Check back often to the website to learn more about the Annual Meeting, to read the Call for Papers, or to submit your abstract in consideration for these awards. Finalists will be selected from among the abstracts accepted for presentation at the meeting and will be contacted by GSA's Awards Coordinator to submit an article-length manuscript for final judging by September 1, 2006. The author(s) must present the work during the Annual Meeting. The previous winner of this award was Iveris Martinez, PhD, from Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions for her paper, "Engaging Older Adults in High Impact Volunteering". For further information about this award, please contact GSA's Awards Coordinator at goneill@agingsociety.org. BEIJING HOSTS HISTORIC AGING CONFERENCE: Greg O'Neill, director of GSA's Civic Engagement project, recently traveled to China to talk about senior volunteer programs in the United States at the First China Forum on Tapping the Talents of Older Adults. This conference was held October 8-9, 2005 in Beijing and was hosted by the China Commission for the Civic Engagement of Retired People (CERP). It was organized to show how China and its economy can benefit from the talents, experience, and expertise of its rapidly growing retiree population. The opening session was held in The Great Hall of the People at Tiananmen Square, the meeting venue for China's Peoples' Congress and many important political and diplomatic events. For more information, click here (PDF). ACADEMY RESOURCES Click here to visit our web site for an updated list of other major initiatives and reports in the area of civic engagement. The CE-Newsletter is the E-Newsletter of GSA's Civic
Engagement in an Older America Project. The Civic Engagement in
an Older America project is supported
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