As part of the European Project “Grey4Green”, the Environment Agency of Iceland hosted the third and final international “Senior mobility” exchange, marking an important step towards promoting healthy aging beyond borders through nature conservation.

17 seniors from Portugal, Denmark, and Iceland actively participated in various environmental volunteer activities. They cleaned a beach in the Reykjavík area, part of a research programme lead by the Environment Agency, removed some trees and invasives plants growing into a small protected area in the heart of Reykjavík as part of the management plan, and finally got introduced to the birds of Iceland.

The group also visited the Perlan Museum in company of the Icelandic Natural History Museum, which helped the seniors discovering the particularities of Iceland, its biodiversity and the challenges that the country is facing.

Among the different presentations, the seniors had the opportunity to meet Roger Whysall, a senior volunteer, who has been participating actively to the Iceland Conservation Volunteer programme for almost 20 years. Roger showed how his very inspirational journey has led him to pursue almost a second career, after he retired as a teacher. Margrét Auðunsdóttir also introduced the missions carried out by the biggest nature conservation association of Iceland called “Landvernd”. Finally, Halldór Reynisson introduced a newly formed association of Seniors called “Aldin”, very much inspired by their peers in Denmark.

This exchange not only facilitated moments of sharing on a human and cultural level among particularly distinct countries but also highlighted the importance of international cooperation in addressing global environmental challenges, empowering older adults to be part of the change.

The Environment Agency of Iceland, as host and partner of the Grey4Green Project, had the opportunity to share the work the Agency is implicated in, among other topics is nature conservation and climate change.

Useful links:

Iceland Conservation Volunteer programme (ICV) website: https://www.ust.is/english/visiting-iceland/volunteers/long-term-placement/

Iceland Conservation Volunteer programme (ICV) Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/ICV.is

Protected areas in Iceland managed by the Environment Agency of Iceland: https://www.ust.is/english/visiting-iceland/protected-areas/

Association Landvernd website: https://landvernd.is/english/

Icelandic Natural History Museum website: https://nmsi.is/english/