The University of the Third Age and Active Ageing

1. Front Matter

   Pages i-xxi

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2. The Background Context

   1. Front Matter

      Pages 1-1

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   2. Active Ageing Through Lifelong Learning: The University of the Third Age

      • Marvin Formosa

      Pages 3-18

   3. Origins and Development: The Francophone Model of Universities of the Third Age

      • François Vellas

      Pages 19-30

3. European Perspectives

   1. Front Matter

      Pages 31-31

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   2. “An Alternative Ageing Experience”: An Account and Assessment of the University of the Third Age in the United Kingdom

      • Keith Percy

      Pages 33-43

   3. Be Active Through Lifelong Learning! The University of the Third Age in Iceland

      • Hans Kristján Guðmundsson

      Pages 45-55

   4. The University of the Third Age in Italy: A Dynamic, Flexible, and Accessible Learning Model

      • Barbara Baschiera

      Pages 57-67

   5. Subsisting Within Public Universities: Universities of the Third Age in Germany

      • Bernhard Schmidt-Hertha

      Pages 69-79

   6. Third Age Learning for Active Ageing in Malta: Successes and Limitations

      • Marvin Formosa

      Pages 81-93

   7. Late-Life Learning for Social Inclusion: Universities of the Third Age in Poland

      • Jolanta Maćkowicz, Joanna Wnęk-Gozdek

      Pages 95-105

   8. Universities of the Third Age: Learning Opportunities in the Russian Federation

      • Gulnara Minnigaleeva

      Pages 107-118

   9. From University Extension Classrooms to Universities of Experience: The University of the Third Age in Spain

      • Feliciano Villar

      Pages 119-129

   10. Sweden’s Senior University: Bildung and Fellowship

       • Cecilia Bjursell

       Pages 131-142

4. Asian-Pacific Perspectives

   1. Front Matter

      Pages 143-143

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   2. The University of the Third Age Movement in Australia: From Statewide Networking to Community Engagement

      • Ainslie Lamb

      Pages 145-155

   3. The Development and Characteristics of Universities of the Third Age in Mainland China

      • Xinyi Zhao, Ernest Chui

      Pages 157-168

   4. Third Age Learning in Hong Kong: The Elder Academy Experience

      • Maureen Tam

      Pages 169-179

   5. The University of the Third Age in Lebanon: Challenges, Opportunities and Prospects

      • Maya Abi Chahine, Abla Mehio Sibai

      Pages 181-193

   6. Moving the Needle on the University of Third Age in Malaysia: Recent Developments and Prospects

      • Tengku Aizan Hamid, Noor Syamilah Zakaria, Nur Aira Abd Rahim, Sen Tyng Chai, Siti Aisyah Nor Akahbar

      Pages 195-206

This comparative resource charts the interface between the University of the Third Age (U3A) movement and active ageing, and in doing so, offers a comprehensive and thorough understanding of what U3A means in different geographical and sociocultural contexts. After first providing introductory chapters to introduce the U3A movement and active ageing in global perspective and tracing the origins of U3As in France, the book sets off charting the international development of U3As in both European and Asian-Pacific contexts. Deliberately, the book moves away from the dominant Anglo-centric US- and UK-rooted analyses of U3As to account for contexts of different political ideology, sociocultural values, geography, and degrees of urbanisation and industrialisation. Lastly, it thematises foreseeable issues, concerns, and predicaments that the global U3A movement faces while meeting the challenges and seizing the opportunities presented by active ageing.

The chapters’ comparative perspectives encompass:

• Origins and development: The Francophone model of U3As
• The development and characteristics of U3As in European and Asian-Pacific geographies
• From social welfare to educational gerontology: U3As in China, Russia, Taiwan, Malaysia and South Korea
• U3As in Italy, Spain and Sweden: A dynamic, flexible, and accessible learning model
• Late-life learning for social inclusion: U3As in Poland, Iceland, United Kingdom, and Malta
• The U3A movement in Australia: From statewide networking to community engagement
• Cross-cultural perspectives on U3As: The case of Thailand

The University of the Third Age and Active Ageing boasts welcome contributions to the scholarship on the different histories, structures, and challenges posed by national U3As. Readers from a variety of backgrounds and research interests including gerontology, geriatrics, active ageing, older adult learning, comparative education and educational technology will find this a necessary and valuable resource in better understanding a globalised U3A world.

"The University of the Third Age and Active Ageing: European and Asian-Pacific Perspectives contributes to the deep well of histories, experiences, structures, accomplishments and problems of national U3As.  It emerges as a tapestry of extraordinary research that offers to guide the U3A movement as it soon enters its fiftieth year of existence." 

- Prof. Stephen Katz. Trent University

• University of the Third Age
• older adults learning
• learning in later life in Europe an Asia
• active aging and education
• history of U3A
• adult education in Great Britain
• adult education in Malta
• adult education in Germany
• adult education in Russia
• adult education in China
• adult education in Sweden
• adult education in Spain
• adult education in Poland
• adult education in Taiwan
• adult education in South Korea
• adult education in Iran
• adult education in Thailand
• adult education in Malaysia
• adult education in Iceland
• U3A movemenet and policy

• Department of Gerontology and Dementia Studies, Faculty for Social Wellbeing, University of Malta, Msida, Malta

  Marvin Formosa

Prof. Marvin Formosa, PhD, is Associate Professor and Head of the Department of Gerontology and Dementia Studies, Faculty for Social Wellbeing, University of Malta. At the University of Malta, he coordinates the Master of Gerontology and Geriatrics, and the Master of Arts in Ageing and Dementia Studies. Presently, Prof. Formosa holds the posts of Chairperson of the National Commission for Active Ageing (Malta), Director of the University of the Third Age (Malta), and Director of the International Institute on Ageing United Nations - Malta (INIA). Recently, Prof. Formosa headed UN-sponsored training programmes in gerontology, dementia care and geriatrics in the Philippines, China, India, Turkey, Malaysia, Belarus, Kenya, Dominican Republic, and Russia.   Prof. Formosa is the author or various articles and books on mainstream and educational gerontology, is Editor-in-Chief of the International Journal on Ageing in Developing Countries, and is Country Team Leader (Malta) of the Survey of Health, Ageing, and Retirement in Europe (SHARE).

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