AER Committee 2 Autumn Plenary Session

Today more than ever, people are living longer and older people are enjoying better health in the EU. This is great news, but this will also have a major impact on the whole of society. From now until 2030, there will be a lack of 20.8 million (6.8 per cent) people of working age. In 2030 roughly two active people will have to take care of one inactive person. And Europe will have 18 million children and young people fewer than today.

Considering these anticipations, demographic change has every reason to be high on the agenda of European regions. Indeed, it will slowly, but surely, have an impact on every aspect of our daily life.
There is a need to foster new approches, new strategies, concepts, ideas and organisations that meet social needs of all kinds – from conditions and education to community development and –health – and strengthen civil society. That is the purpose of social innovation. Every region faces peculiar demographic trends and each have already experiences in social innovation to adress the issue raised by those evolutions.

The AER Conference ‘Regional Innovation for Demographic Change’, which will be held in 's-Hertogenbosch (Noord-Brabant, NL) on October 6th, will provide the regions with the opportunity to bring their good practices together and to exchange knowledge and inspiration. Based on the outcomes of our discussions, we will draft the ‘Roadmap for demographic change’, the guidelines for our future work within the AER and in the regions.

In addition, the AER e-he@lth network will meet on 5th October 2009  for a seminar dedicated to smart care solutions and ICT for independant living.

The autumn plenary session of the Social Policy and Public Health Committee (2) will be held on 7th October 2009. In the afternoon, the AER project on the prevention of alcoho-related harm will meet in order to evaluate the results of the project’s peer reviews and to prepare the project’s final Conference in Spring 2010 in Catalunya (E). Further information about the preparatory meeting of the AER peer review project and a draft agenda are available here

On that same afternoon, the Observatory on Gender Issues will also have a working meeting. More information available here.

Further information about AER activities on Demographic Change: click here

Last update on 29 September 2009