Report
Conference on Ageing in Arad
The Municipality of Gyula Town organised a conference on ageing with the title of In Focus with the Civilians. The implementation of the successful project proposal for the call to ‘Europe for Citizens’ Programme began with a conference last year September in our town, which continued now in the twin-town of Gyula.
Visiting elderly houses
The delegation departed on a Friday from Gyula, which involved among others the representatives of the Gyula Sub-region Unified Social and Child Welfare Institution, the Pensioner Civil Association of Gyula, the Interest Protection Association of Pensioners in Gyula and other professional institutions on ageing as well as the speakers and organizers of the conference. The programme of the delegation started with the visit of two institutions. In the Vlaicu Elderly Day-care Centre of Arad and in the Elderly Care Centre of Arad the director of the Arad Community Development and Assistance Directorate Erika Stark and the director of the institution Popa Fira received the visitors from Gyula, respectively. Following a verbal introduction, the delegates visited the parts of the institution, the dressmaking workshop, the physical therapy room, the psychology and the chapel in groups.
Conference on ageing
The professional presentations of the conference on ageing began on Saturday in the conference room of Hotel Continental Forum, Arad.
Previous to the professional part of the meeting, in his speech, the deputy mayor of Arad Levente Bognár emphasised that between Gyula and Arad there was an almost two-decade-old well working town-twinning partnership, and this conference was a common programme strengthening further the partnership between the twin-towns and providing possibility for the further joint work.
After this the deputy mayor of Gyula Mihály Galbács welcomed the participants and called upon the speakers to give interesting and exciting presentations, which could be used by the people present both in their professional and personal life.
The senior lecturer of Gál Ferenc College Tamás Szilágyi gave an account of the sociologic survey about the active aged within the framework of the GENSOL project. In his presentation, he emphasised that this summing up of the researches was only a “snap”, which would have huge importance compared with the researches of the other cities.
Erika Stark analysed the situation of the aged in Romania, and then she presented the work of the directorate managed by her and of the departments belonging to the organization to the audience. After this, the director of the Elderly Care Centre in Arad Popa Fira reported about the situation of the aged in Arad to people assembled. Then the president of the Agora Foundation for Social Research Zsolt Péter Függ gave a talk about the European Year for Active Ageing and Solidarity between Generations.
In his presentation entitled “That is the way like we senior citizens live life” Dr. Zoltán Szigeti made a comparison between his comprehensive study made in 2008-2009 and the control examination in 2012. Between the two surveys, four years passed, and situation of the surveyed old people worsened a lot. The researches of the sociologist continue, and this year old people surveyed in 2009 will be checked.
The audience of the afternoon series of presentations could get acquainted first with the activity of the non-governmental organization providing elderly care in Arad, which was presented by the president of the Pensioners’ Mutual Welfare Fund in Romania Lidia Dan.
The senior lecturer of the University of Szeged Dr. Gábor Dániel Nagy detailed the assessed results of the survey made among the active old people, which was outlined by Tamás Szilágyi formerly. From his presentation, it came out that compared to other settlements Gyula provides much more services and liveable circumstances to old people living here, as well as that the active aged live in much better health and better quality of life than the passive, lonely aged.
In the last presentation, the head rheumatologist of Gyula Castle Spa Kft. Dr. Judit Ágnes Urbancsok introduced the therapeutic section of Gyula Castle Spa in respect of ageing.
Further cooperation
Following the conference, the delegation of Gyula and the host Municipality of Arad laid wreath to the bust of Gyula Salacz, who was born in Gyula and was the mayor of Arad between 1875 and 1901. At the scene, Levente Bognár said - last year it was the 180th anniversary of the birth of Gyula Salacz, and on this occasion Arad City erected a statue to the memory of the mayor fulfilling his duty for the longest time, without whose work the city would not be what it is.
After the respect the delegation went to the concert hall of the Arad Palace of Culture, where director Alin V?cean received the guests. Here the delegation enjoyed a quite delightful experience, since the Philharmonics gave people present a concert as a present.
After the concert, the programme called “Handshakes” continued in the Arad City Hall restored last year, where on behalf of the present members of the local municipality Levente Bognár welcomed the delegates of their twin-town from the South Great Plain. In his speech, he expressed his hope concerning the further cooperation of the two towns and the further deepening of their partnership, in order to celebrate the two-decade-old link last year worthy way.
In his address, Dr. Ernő Görgényi first of all congratulated on the city hall grown in beauty. Then he said that in the years past, owing to the funds from the European Union, they had succeeded in holding several common programmes similar to the one this day from external resources.
“The town-twinning are the best, when they are confined not only to the formal measures of the prevailing town management, but they are characterised by the relations of the cultural, non-governmental and business organisations and generally by the relations of people” – said Dr. Ernő Görgényi.
Subsequently the two city leaders signed the cooperation agreement between Gyula and Arad for 2013, and then the hosts gave a buffet reception to the guest from Gyula.
In focus with the civilians
As an accompanying programme of the conference, non-governmental organizations of Gyula and the local ones organised a workshop on Sunday in the Hotel Continental Forum, Arad. On which the following organizations took part: Gyula Association of Large Families, Regional Wellness Association making free of charge health screening, Kerecsényi László Archery Association popularizing the Archery European Championship to be organized in April, representatives of the Prohászka Zsolt Town Sports Hall, Zerge Youth and Hiking Sport Association having cross-border programmes, Gyulavári Mansion, Biofarm Kft., Digbuild Kft., Gyula Tourinform and Gyula Castle Spa.
The participants could taste at the stand of the Békés County Bee-keeper Association and from the homemade jams of Ildikó Lévai. Many non-governmental organizations were present rom the part of Romania mostly from the cultural, sport and health sector.
The series of conferences will continue in April in Budrio, the Italian twin-town of Gyula and in May in the Transylvanian Covasna, while in autumn it will end with a closing conference in Gyula.
Gyulai Hírlap –by Szabolcs Oláh
