Age against the machine: active ageing and guest learning on campus

Abstract

This paper offers a brief overview of ‘the guest student’ initiative, established in countries like Germany, and highlights its potential to support those in later life – or the ‘third age’ – in particular.  In a nutshell, where the initiative is supported, universities open up selected lectures to the public which they, as ‘guest students’ (Gasthöreren), can apply to attend.  The paper considers how UK third age citizens are supported (e.g. through the U3A initiative) and how universities might think about supporting their communities in a post-pandemic world.