Establishment of a European Research Network on the topic of the "Active Ageing of Migrant Elders across Europe"

Forum 7 "Migrant Elders – Research in Europe" of the conference "New Face for Europe. Migrant Elders across Europe – from Challenges to Opportunities" facilitated a first exchange of experiences between relevant researchers on the topic of active ageing of migrant elders across Europe.

It became clear that there is a high demand of concerted and comparable European research activities concerning this topic. Many researchers expressed their interest to become actively involved in a European research network on the "Active Ageing of Migrant Elders across Europe".

The establishment of this research network was officially agreed upon at the conference on 02.10.2008.

The conference forum 7 compiled a provisional list of research topics and research gaps. Initially five strands arise.

1. Basic Research:

Basic research concerning the situation of migrant elders - especially in the new EU Member States - needs to be undertaken and / or updated. In some countries like e.g. Bulgaria or Finland hardly any scientific preoccupation with the topic in question has been undertaken so far. In other countries like e.g. the Netherlands research results are no longer up to date.

2. Concepts, forms and typologies:

There is no uniform European scientific typology for the different groups of migrant elders.

3. Influence of migrant elders on the host society:

Up to now there are rarely any analyses available on how host societies have undergone social and cultural changes due to migrant elders. This is especially true concerning the political and social participation of migrant elders.

4. Theoretic research:

Open scientific questions concerning migrant elders refer to the development of identity, transnationality and the role of European, urban and local citizenship.

5. Application-orientated research:

A combination between research and application related social activities is necessary to better the social, cultural and political integration of migrant elders.

The results of other conference forums underline the need for academic research and the (scientifically supervised) exchange of good practice concerning the active ageing of migrant elders across Europe.

• The rapporteur of forum 1 "Political and social participation of migrant elders" recommended the exchange of good practice.
• The rapporteur of forum 2 "Quality housing concepts for migrant elders" underlined the high importance of a "database of statistics, research and good practice" in her concluding recommandations.
• The rapporteur of forum 3 "The diverse migrant elders' community - impact and chances" stressed the "Need for comprehensive analysis of ongoing migration trends in a reshaped Europe", the "Need for indepth research into specific areas of migration policies (health, humanitarian, orientation, role of diaspora)" and maintains that "International Retirement Migration is a specific phenomenon with its own challenges and opportunities". The practical recommendation of this forum underlines that "New trends of migration need to be more fully analysed and understood by policy makers".
• The rapporteur of forum 4 "Culturally sensitive health and care" accentuated that "Research concerning ethnic elders differs a lot between countries". One of the recommendations points out that "Networks and projects concerning migrant elders should be supported and the results should be shared more efficiently between different countries".
• The rapporteur of forum 5 "Integration & Communication - ICT for Migrant Elders" refered to the "Scarcity of research on migrant women elders".

More detailed information on the concept and the installation of the European research network "Active Ageing of Migrant Elders across Europe" can be found here.