Changing Expectations of Life 23 April 2007Newcastle-Gateshead UK

Population ageing will fundamentally change the lives of Europeans. The primary goal of the EU FP6 Specific Support Action AGEACTION is to generate wider and deeper appreciation of the potential for research to be translated into major benefits in terms of economic growth and personal wellbeing.

On 23 April 2007, AGEACTION will convene a remarkable conference “Changing Expectations of Life” at the spectacular Sage Gateshead hall in association with Newcastle University’s Institute for Ageing and Health. The conference programme will provide a challenging appraisal of the challenge and opportunity of population ageing.

• Twenty-five leading European experts across the fields of biology, medicine, social science, technology, finance and industry will present key findings from an in-depth enquiry into what can and should be done.
• Experts from around the world will deliver personal visions of research in the major areas of importance.
• Celebrities from outside the world of science will deliver a personal vision of the challenges of ageing.
• A panel of distinguished authorities from agencies such as the World Health Organisation, the International Longevity Centre, the European Molecular Biology Laboratory, the British House of Lords Science and Technology Committee, and the Geneva Institute of Biomedical Ethics will debate how to effect the necessary changes in our actions and attitudes.
• A wide range of organisations which are active in the realm of population ageing and research, including organisations representing the interests of older people, will share information about their activities.
• The conference will address how to generate the necessary commitments not only for funding primary research but also for building the essential European human resources with expertise and professional skills to make our extra years of life a time in which quality of life and economic independence are as high as possible.