Active Later Life Learners, Sustainability Advocacy and the (Re-) Emerging Global Role of Seniors as Twenty-First-Century ‘Tribal Elders’

Abstract

In ageing societies around the world, the general life experience of ‘seniors’ (i.e. the elderly, retirees and other ‘later’ lifelong learners) has become widely devalued and regularly ignored at the beginning of the twenty-first century. This is despite the obvious and growing need for ‘tribal elder’ knowledge and wisdom to help guide a future global society (and especially ‘lost’ younger people) through the confusions and challenges of a fast-changing and increasingly fragile yet confusing world of rampant consumerism, mindless progress, accelerating climate change and gross information overload. The examples of some inspirational seniors provide an active later life learning model for all seniors to better harness their life experience to assist society as well as for personal development—and to also assist industries, governments and international as well as local communities. This is especially so in relation to retirees and others who volunteer their time to help out in a range of scenarios. On the one hand, these include poverty-alleviation projects, community capacity building and environmental protection. On the other hand, it can and should increasingly include policy advocacy for more sustainable decision-making in business, politics and academic or research contexts. This is especially so in relation to better provision of public health, aged care and community services, but might also include the vetting of various industry initiatives, corporate profiteering and every kind of local development application. This chapter builds on such examples to explore how different modes of ‘sustainability’ advocacy as well as leadership and mentoring might be seen as part of an increasingly important and convergent lifelong education model for seniors in the future.