Ipoly-valley EGTC

The territory of the Ipoly-Valley EGTC is made up of peripheral, dispersed municipalities; their population is shrinking and ageing quickly. It is a key sectoral problem, that the public services cannot provide the necessary help for elderly people, such as, regular and high-quality healthcare along with access to fresh and nutritious food. The elderly can easily drop out of social processes, and at the same time, the labour market is not prepared to employ them, which leads to isolation, and results in the loss of independence and self-sufficiency. The complex care of the elderly (with a population rate of up to 23 per cent in the municipalities concerned) is an increasing burden on small local governments and the – often lacking – social care systems.

To address these challenges, innovative solutions, widespread partnerships and the integration of cross-border services are needed, which also form the focus of the project. The platform of elderly care brings together all the interested parties in the EGTC’s area (local governments, services, churches and non-governmental organisations) to jointly achieve cross-border knowledge transfer and public service integration. In the framework of the platform, a diverse strategic vision is developed, which includes institutional cooperation, employing the elderly and cross-border regional integration of communal catering. They will discuss and communicate the document during several workshops and training sessions.

The project makes the first specific steps towards reaching these goals by purchasing two minibuses, which the elderly living in the municipalities of the EGTC can use to travel to the nearest healthcare provider to receive high quality services, as well as to attend various rehabilitation social events. The municipal kitchen development implemented under the project will enable 15 public kitchens to provide a more extensive and better quality service.