Paper short abstract:

The research and dissemination project “Retirement stories” started as a photo elicitation project that developed into dialogue and collaboration on various dissemination formats. This paper explores the knowledge resulting from the dialogical and experimental work with older research participants.

Paper long abstract:

"Retirement stories" is a research and dissemination project about the transition from work life to retirement in Copenhagen, Denmark. The participants have taken photos and/or recorded sounds that illustrate what they find important to share regarding their experiences with this transition. They also agree that the material will be used in various dissemination formats and experiments for a wide audience as the project goes along. During the autumn 2015 and winter 2016 the dissemination formats have been a neighborhood walk with posters telling one woman's life story connected to the neighborhood, an exhibition with photos and stories in a library, an event with the posters and the exhibition collected in one place and presentations to an audience with contributions from some participants, a podcast made by ethnology students and an article written in collaboration between researcher, event coordinator and one participant. Since the dissemination formats develop with the research project there is an ongoing dialogue and contact with the participants. Thus, what started as a photo elicitation project has developed into dialogue based ethnographic fieldwork in the field of public engagement and popular dissemination of anthropological aging research. Participating in the project requires that the participants have interest in reflecting on their own experiences with the transition from work life to retirement. The ongoing dialogue and the nature of the experiments gives new insights into to the process that follows of participation in the project for the individual participants as reflection continues in various ways.