EXPERTS FROM AROUND THE GLOBE CONVENE AT PITT TO EXPLORE INTERGENERATIONAL RELATIONSHIPS

PITTSBURGH, June 6 -- Educators, social workers, and other professionals will convene June 7 - 9 at the University of Pittsburgh to learn how to implement programs uniting the elderly with young children, discuss the benefits of these partnerships, and explore their impact in countries around the world.

"New Directions in Intergenerational Programs " begins Wednesday,

June 7, at 10:30 a.m., in Posvar Hall, Room 2P56, and concludes Friday, June 9, at

4 p.m. Highlighting the event are a keynote address on children's rights, and presentations by experts from British Columbia, the Netherlands, and Sweden.

The keynote speech will be delivered by Marian Koren, on Wednesday, June 7, at noon. Koren, head of the Liaison Office for Academic Research and International Affairs for the Netherlands Public Library Association (NPLA) in the Hague, will discuss "Human Rights for Children and Older Adults: A Framework for Intergenerational Programs."

Prior to her current position, Koren served as NPLA policy advisor, project manager, and senior researcher, and was a researcher at the Research and Development Department of The Royal Library in the Hague. She has lectured throughout the world on international law, children's rights, human rights, the right to information, and the right to privacy, and has authored more than 100 articles on those issues in Dutch and Fleming library journals.

 On Thursday, June 8, beginning at 1 p.m., Koren will make another presentation, as will two other international experts: Catharina Morthenson Ekel of, special advisor at the Ministry of Health and Social Affairs in Sweden and project manager for the Swedish government-initiated Elderly Policy Project, and Valerie S. Kuehne, professor in the School of Child and Youth Care, University of Victoria, and renowned researcher in intergenerational relationships within the family and community.

Sally Newman, director of Generations Together, Pitt's program of intergenerational studies, will discuss her research and efforts in the field, which continue to spark world-wide interest.

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NOTE TO EDITORS: Interviews with any of the speakers can be coordinated through Sharon Blake at (412) 624-4364.