International Conference on Old-Age Social Exclusion at ILAS

Social exclusion of older people is a direct barrier to Europe’s social and economic development. That was the message from an international conference on ‘Old-Age Social Exclusion’ hosted on the 28^th of October by the Irish Centre for Social Gerontology (ICSG) in ILAS. The international conference was also the opening event of a four-year innovative collaboration between researchers and policy stakeholders across Europe, entitled Reducing Old-Age Exclusion in Europe, or ROSEnet and chaired by ICSG’s Kieran Walsh.

ROSEnet is funded by the European COST Association and aims to overcome critical knowledge gaps and fragmentation in research and policy to tackle social exclusion amongst older people in Europe and beyond. Marking the first cross-national initiative of its kind, ROSEnet involves over 100 researchers and policy stakeholders from across 37 countries.

 With consequences for individuals, families, and welfare and care systems in Europe, old-age exclusion involves multifaceted forms of disadvantage. It can impact on economic, social relations, services, civic rights and community areas of life. Presenting new research and policy perspectives from different international locations, speakers at the conference identified key mechanisms of exclusion across these different life domains.