Every two weeks, the audience filled the new CAMPUS of the age-friendly Neumann University.
The first guest of the Hírös Senior University was Dr. Tamás Józsa, a postdoctoral researcher from the Department of Engineering at the University of Oxford, who is a member of an international interdisciplinary research group working on brain research. In his presentation, he showed how engineering knowledge can contribute to a more effective management of stroke in such a team.
Sustainability, the carrying capacity of our planet, the size of our ecological footprint are all vital issues that cannot be dealt with enough. It is no wonder that Zsolt Gilly, a retired specialist from the Kiskunság National Park, gave an excellent presentation to a full house.
Sándor Koszecz (Kollabor, Békéscsaba) gave a thought-provoking presentation on the shortcomings of today's education, as well as on the Science Experience Centre and the outstanding and innovative work being done there to compensate for these shortcomings. He highlighted the innovation of home gardening, how to grow the same vegetables and plants in the home as in a traditional retail garden, regardless of the season.
Ideally, we live in our own family from birth to our last will, and generations support each other. Optimally, the law only regulates our family life from the background, discreetly. Optimally, we are spontaneous law followers and not conscious law enforcers. However, we also face many difficulties, changes and legal issues in our lives, when it is worthwhile to get to know the law a little better, to review it and to inform ourselves. This was helped by the presentation of Dr. Balázs Somfai (Directorate of Health and Social Institutions, Elderly Care Service, Site Manager), who provided the participants with basic knowledge of the most important provisions of marriage law, parent-child relations, child protection, elderly care and inheritance law
According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of death worldwide. The organisation predicts that by 2030, 23.6 million people will die each year from cardiovascular disease - most of them from heart attacks and strokes. It is important to prevent this group of diseases, to talk about the factors that depend on us as individuals. This is why Dr András Nagy, MD (President of the Foundation for Heart Diseases), came to the Hírös Senior University to give a very informative and high quality presentation on the close link between active ageing and the prevention of heart disease.
The Senior University was associated with the John Neumann Year with several events. Dr. Ákos Tóth (Associate Professor at JvNU) presented the impact of János Neumann's work on modern economics. He also gave an example of how game theory can be applied to the fair division of the chocolate bar in a birthday cake distribution, in order to make children experience the event as a winner-take-all. Without Neumann, we would certainly live in a very different world today, so it's worth listening to this lecture again!
We live in an age of data, and we are slowly drowning in a sea of information. But behind the data are messages, stories, hidden patterns that are usually hard to read. Data visualisation helps us to do this by using graphical tools to present the information extracted from the data in a clear, transparent and easy-to-understand way. The participants heard a presentation on this new field, which is now indispensable, by Mihály Minkó (MOME, Budapest), but there was also a discussion on the history of data visualisation, its role in the scientific life of our time and a concrete project, a data visualisation for an exhibition (" The web of Petőfi's, the famous Hungarian poet's connections").
The spring semester of the Senior University ended with an unusual screening of a film about János Neumann, one of the most important figures of the 20th century, followed by a discussion with the director, Gábor Dénes, about the circumstances of the film's making and János Neumann.
During the semester, there were senior university lectures that were also of interest to students in their twenties, which is another important step in strengthening intergenerational relations in the city!
The world's advanced economies are facing skills and talent shortages. Public education and higher education institutions are failing to fill this gap because of a shrinking youth population. It is therefore essential that universities also open up to adults and ageing generations. If we succeed in integrating a culture of lifelong learning into everyday routines, it will not only be a passport to individual success and prosperity, but also a future-proof investment in the local economy and labour market.
John von Neumann University is a leader in this field of social responsibility, as it was the first university in Hungary to earn the title of Age-Friendly University. The Age-friendly University, AFU, is an Anglo-Saxon initiative that aims to involve the ageing society in higher education. In addition to these lectures, the university has opened its courses to people over 50. Some courses and classes are open to older people who apply to attend, allowing them to participate in both the classroom and practical training. This semester, a total of 39 courses were open to Kecskemét residents over 50 and seniors living in the capital.
The announcement of the seminars is also important for CédrusNet because it shows the trend that curricula should be designed not only for a few years of education up to the diploma level, but also for lifelong learning after the acquired skills. They are also trying to work closely with John von Neumann University on this.
Lifelong learning is one of the most future-proof skills and investments. The age-friendly John von Neumann University, in cooperation with the CédrusNet Kecskemét Programme, is at the forefront of this in Kecskemét.
Let's meet in September during the autumn semester of the Senior University!
