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Research output: Contribution to Journal/Magazine › Journal article › peer-review
How the Men’s Shed idea travels to Scandinavia. / Ahl, Helene; Hedegaard, Joel; Golding, B.
In: Australian Journal of Adult Learning, Vol. 57, No. 3, 01.11.2017, p. 316-333.Research output: Contribution to Journal/Magazine › Journal article › peer-review
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TY - JOUR
T1 - How the Men’s Shed idea travels to Scandinavia
AU - Ahl, Helene
AU - Hedegaard, Joel
AU - Golding, B.
PY - 2017/11/1
Y1 - 2017/11/1
N2 - Australia has around 1,000 Men’s Sheds – informal community based workshops offering men beyond paid work somewhere to go, something to do and someone to talk to. They have proven to be of great benefit for older men’s learning, health and wellbeing, social integration, and for developing a positive male identity focusing on community responsibility and care. A Men’s Shed is typically selforganized and ‘bottom-up’, which is also a key success factor, since it provides participants with a sense of ownership and empowerment. Men’s Sheds are now spreading rapidly internationally, but the uptake of the idea varies with the local and national context, and so too may the consequences. Our paper describes how the Men’s Shed travelled to Denmark, a country with considerably more ‘social engineering’ than in Australia, where Sheds were opened in 2015, via a ‘top-down’ initiative sponsored by the Danish Ministry of Health. Using data from the study of the web pages of the Danish ‘Shed’ organizations, from interviews with the central organizer, and from visits and interviews with participants and local organizers at two Danish Men’s sheds, we describe how the idea of the Men’s Shed on the Australian model was interpreted and translated at central and local levels. Preliminary data indicate that similar positive benefits as exist in Australia may result, provided that local ownership is emphasized.
AB - Australia has around 1,000 Men’s Sheds – informal community based workshops offering men beyond paid work somewhere to go, something to do and someone to talk to. They have proven to be of great benefit for older men’s learning, health and wellbeing, social integration, and for developing a positive male identity focusing on community responsibility and care. A Men’s Shed is typically selforganized and ‘bottom-up’, which is also a key success factor, since it provides participants with a sense of ownership and empowerment. Men’s Sheds are now spreading rapidly internationally, but the uptake of the idea varies with the local and national context, and so too may the consequences. Our paper describes how the Men’s Shed travelled to Denmark, a country with considerably more ‘social engineering’ than in Australia, where Sheds were opened in 2015, via a ‘top-down’ initiative sponsored by the Danish Ministry of Health. Using data from the study of the web pages of the Danish ‘Shed’ organizations, from interviews with the central organizer, and from visits and interviews with participants and local organizers at two Danish Men’s sheds, we describe how the idea of the Men’s Shed on the Australian model was interpreted and translated at central and local levels. Preliminary data indicate that similar positive benefits as exist in Australia may result, provided that local ownership is emphasized.
KW - men’s sheds
KW - institutional theory
KW - informal learning
KW - masculinity
KW - gender
KW - older men’s well-being
M3 - Journal article
VL - 57
SP - 316
EP - 333
JO - Australian Journal of Adult Learning
JF - Australian Journal of Adult Learning
SN - 1443-1394
IS - 3
ER -