Sustainable Leisure, Intergenerational Learning and Grandparents’ Level of Education

Sustainable leisure, shared among grandparents and grandchildren, provides multiple benefits, as it enhances contexts and bonds that foster personal, familiar, social and emotional development. In addition to this, it directly contributes to the achievement of the sustainable development goals, established in Agenda 2030. The objective was to examine, from the grandparents’ perspective, and taking into account their educational level, the links that exist among co-learning processes and the practice of sustainable intergenerational leisure and its evolution throughout the pandemic era. This project sought to combine quantitative (N = 350) and qualitative (N = 18) methodologies, using an ad hoc questionnaire and a discussion group, in different moments, before and after the pandemic. The SPSS 23.0 statistical program was used for quantitative analysis and the NVivo Release 1.6 software for the qualitative study. The results show that intergenerational co-learning is a motive and a relevant stimulus that encourages both generations to share these experiences in natural spaces, which brings them together and facilitates lifelong learning. It has been proven that, before the lockdown, sustainable leisure practices showed significant differences depending on the level of education of the older generation. This had an impact on participation in activities associated with different types of leisure, with a tendency to increase the practice as the level of education rises. Nevertheless, after the pandemic, a greater reduction has been observed in the practice of shared leisure activities among those with a higher educational level.