In early March I was in Istanbul for three days that clarified something I had believed theoretically but now understood practically: designing for adults aged 60+ is not a simplified version of designing for anyone else. It is its own discipline.

The LTTA for DECO – Active 60+ Digi Ecofluencers – brought together trainers from Latvia, Greece, Romania, Turkey, and Spain at Bostancı Adult Education Centre, an institution that alone trained nearly 7,700 learners in a single academic year. My role throughout the project is learning designer and researcher, and in Istanbul both functions were fully active.

Research and assessment design

The research dimension of my work on DECO centres on assessment design using two EU frameworks: DigiComp 2.2, which maps digital competence across five areas, and GreenComp, the European sustainability competence framework. Rather than using these as curriculum checklists, I work with them as measurement anchors – pre- and post-assessments that track real shifts in confidence, skill, and environmental awareness, targeting a 30% improvement in DigiComp scores and a 40% increase in GreenComp environmental awareness.

Methodology and learning theory

The learning design is built on Kolb’s Experiential Learning Cycle, applied in a very specific sequence. Crucially, theory comes last. Sessions open with concrete experience – participants try eco-apps like Ecosia, Too Good To Go, and Olio directly on their own devices – before any framework vocabulary is introduced. This is not just a pedagogical preference; for adults 60+ with low prior digital confidence, being positioned as someone who does not yet understand is a significant barrier to continued engagement. The design follows andragogy principles that treat learners’ life experience as the primary resource, using scaffolded instruction, the I Do / We Do / You Do model, and achievement-oriented sequencing where small wins build the confidence needed for the next step.

Technology

The digital creation tools – Canva, CapCut, DALL-E, Adobe Express, Suno – are introduced not as technical skills to master but as instruments for something meaningful: making eco-content that reflects participants’ own stories, values, and community knowledge. Adults 60+ bring decades of lived environmental memory that younger generations simply do not have. The design tries to honour that, and to turn it into advocacy.

Istanbul reminded me that five educational cultures, when given genuine space to differ, produce something richer than any single system could design alone.