The conference was the fourth in a series organised by ICIP (International Consortium of Intergenerational Programmes) over the past few years. This was the first ICIP conference in Asia, following Keele (UK) Victoria (Canada) and Melbourne (Australia). ICIP partnered with NUS (National University of Singapore) and Council for Third Age, Singapore to devise and host the event, which was magnificently supported by the government of the host country.

It was interesting to find that issues of intergenerational dynamics and relationships in the workplace were high up the agenda for many local delegates, and others, chiming with Singaporean government moves to encourage older workers to stay working, rather than retire. The Opening Keynote Address was given by Mr Gan Kim Yong, Minister of Manpower for Singapore, who spoke of the challenges of an ageing population; a falling birth-rate and increasing longevity mean older workers are being wooed to remain in paid work, often changing to new roles and part-time hours. How younger workers see this, as a threat to their own jobs, or a sensible move, will depend on how it is implemented and managed; employers need to be open-minded and see individual talent and skills, not birthdays, when they look at their workforce.

Many conference sessions dealt with issues within families and communities, not only through papers and discussions, but also a specially commissioned exercise. Over lunch on the first day each table of delegates met a young character played by a local University psychology or drama student, who was in some kind of intergenerational conflict; our job was to find out more and devise potential solutions to the problem, all of which were recorded and illustrated by a team of designers, and published in a book by day 3 of the conference. It was just one example of the resources and thought that had gone into creating the event for us.

On Tuesday I was pleased to be invited by Agnes Law, a Singaporean drama therapist, whom I met first in London a couple of years ago, to join a drama workshop for 50+ people at the Fei Yue Neighbourhood Link, a community centre which serves local residents of surrounding housing estates. A lively group of about 20, mostly women and some men, are working together to learn performance skills and ‘playback’ theatre techniques, aiming to create a performance at the end of the 12 week project. The group work in Mandarin, so I was very glad it was a drama workshop, and could join in easily with the laughter, goodwill and occasional translation I was offered. Agnes led a great session, encouraging participants to enact stories told by some members – of a coach crash in China, of having a pair of shoes stolen from outside a Mosque – finding and conveying the mixed emotions of the moment. We also had great fun playing drama games and the group were happy to be photographed for our gallery.

I gave a presentation on Magic Me’s Our Generations programme, one of four panellists in a session Enhancing Community Well-being through Intergenerational Learning. There was a lot of interest in the work and how we negotiate intergenerational activity into the school system, and find the right kind of artists to lead projects. My fellow panellists were: Dr Ann-Kristin Boström from Finland who spoke of The Grandad Project, a now national scheme placing older men, and some women, in classrooms, to support children’s well-being and thus their learning; Dr Valerie Kuehne, from Canada, who presented research on a ‘full immersion’ project where school students spend up to 6 weeks at a nearby care home fulfilling all their curriculum work through joint activities with the older residents, often forming long term positive relationships in the process; and Dr Youngwha Kee, from Korea, who is studying Lifelong Learning programmes for 1-3 Generation families, ie those which, often because of parents divorcing, are made up of a grandparent caring directly full-time for grandchildren, a difficult situation where support can be needed.

On the final day of the conference we marked the 2nd European Day of Intergenerational Solidarity and also heard from a panel of local specialists working with young and older people and intergenerational initiatives in Singapore. Many ideas and stories were flowing back and forth between the 13 or more nations represented at the conference, and we found much in common. The Singaporean emphasis is often on the family, as the key building block of the community, whereas the experience of intergenerational relationship fostering in the UK has very much been outside families, and looking often at neighbourhood issues.

Leading a post-conference workshop, attended by local delegates working in a variety of sectors and settings, I was able to share more of Magic Me’s practice and our understanding of how to design activities that encourage interaction and dialogue between different age groups. Participants tried creative exercises using a time-line, tableaux, and other tools, to think about how they might adapt these ideas in their own workplaces. After the listening and thinking of the formal presentations it was invigorating to learn together playing with coloured beads, images and to create the Taj Mahal out of chairs!

I left Singapore with many new contacts and fresh insights, and look forward to working with fellow ICIP management Committee members in the coming year, so that this gathering continues to bear fruit.

To find out more about the conference, view resources and join the discussions click here