Contemporary European societies are facing major demographic changes, notably ageing and shrinking population and workforce, and low and declining fertility rates. At the same time life expectancy – and in particular life expectancy in good health – is increasing: Europeans are generally living longer and healthier lives – they benefit from an individual and societal longevity dividend. Europeans are increasingly living in smaller households and having fewer children. Migration continues to play an important role, contributing to a growing demographic diversity of Europe. These demographic megatrends are (re)shaping societal structures and institutions, individual perceptions, attitudes and aspirations, as well as public policies in European societies and beyond. Demographic ageing, i.e. the increasing proportion of older generations and the decreasing proportions of children and young people, impacts on intergenerational relationships, intergenerational inequalities, solidarity, and well-being. This conference is interested in the consequences and implications of demographic challenges and opportunities for quality of life and well-being at both the individual and societal level. This includes the various aspects and sub-dimensions of quality of life and well-being, notably objective living conditions (in the various life domains) and subjective well-being (including its different components).

This call for papers invites contributions exploring the challenges and opportunities presented by demographic change in Europe and their impact on quality of life, individual and societal well-being. Issues that may be addressed include (but are not limited to): 

- Current demographic changes, challenges and opportunities and their main drivers in European societies.

- Recent trends in quality of life (in general and with regard to the various life domains) and subjective well-being (including its various sub-dimensions) of different population groups, and how these trends are associated with demographic processes.

- Trajectories of well-being across generations (and across countries), i.e. age, cohort, and period effects on well-being (and its sub-dimensions). 

- Trends in intergenerational relationships and intergenerational well-being and their relation to demographic change.

- Social exclusion and loneliness of both older adults and young people, and their impact on inter-generational interaction and social cohesion. 

- Well-being of youth and children and consequences for their future (e.g. rising rates of depression, fears and worries about the future of youth and children).

- Material deprivation, old-age poverty and child/youth poverty and how demographic change impacts on poverty rates.

- Studies examining how demographic processes and factors interact with different dimensions of socio-economic inequalities and well-being (by considering the intersections of age, health, gender, etc.). 

- The regional dimension of demographic change: how different regions, notably urban and rural, are affected differently by demographic change. What are the recent trends and evolution in regional disparities and how is well-being and quality of life (like access to services and infrastructure, etc.) at the regional and local level affected by demographic challenges and opportunities? 

- Demographic change and welfare state transformations (and their impact on quality of life and well-being).

- Demographic change and its interaction with/intensification by specific societal crises and shocks such as the COVID-19 pandemic, the Russian-Ukrainian war, economic crises or natural disasters – and how societies, regions, and cities are dealing with and responding to these challenges.

- Construction of indicators and indexes, including tools for social monitoring and social reporting on demographic changes, challenges and opportunities.

We invite contributions using national as well as cross-national perspectives or specific case studies. Comparative approaches and the use of large, internationally (e.g. EQLS, ESS, EU-SILC, GGP, GGS, ISSP, SHARE, WVS) and possibly longitudinal (e.g. Comparative Panel File) comparable datasets is encouraged.

As always, we are also inviting contributions presenting new initiatives, projects and releases for a session on recent developments in European social monitoring and reporting. In particular we are inviting contributions on the topic of stocktaking current social monitoring and reporting activities, and on new ways and forms of social monitoring and reporting.

Submission procedure: The deadline for submissions is April 30, 2025. Please submit your abstract in English (no more than 500 words) to Christian Suter (christian.suter @ unine.ch). The abstract should include the title of the contribution, all author(s) names and affiliations as well as contact information. It should contain clear information on the research methods, data sources and analytical tools to be used. Please indicate in the abstract submission if you are requesting a travel grant (see below). Decisions about the acceptance of submissions and travel grants will be made by the conference committee. Authors will be notified by June 30, 2025 of abstract acceptance/rejection.

Travel grants: Thanks to the support of the World Society Foundation (Zurich, Switzerland) a limited number of travel grants will be available covering travel and/or accommodation costs (in full or in part) for one author per accepted paper using the most economical travel route. Researchers from Eastern Europe, in particular, are encouraged to apply. 

Venue: The conference will be held at Villa Vigoni, Loveno di Menaggio (Italy), October 6–8, 2025. There is no conference fee. For more information see: https://www.villavigoni.eu.  

Conference committee: Jeroen Boelhouwer (SCP, The Hague), Peter Farago (formerly FORS, Lausanne), Laura Kestilä, (National Institute for Health and Welfare, Helsinki), Tadas Leončikas (Eurofound, Dublin), Heinz-Herbert Noll (formerly GESIS, Mannheim), Christian Suter (University Neuchâtel), István György Tóth (TARKI, Budapest). 

For information on previous conferences see: https://www.tarki.hu/villa-vigoni-conferences.