Research / Demographic and Societal Challenges
Demographic and Societal Challenges
Strategic Research Programme: Demographic and Societal Challenges of the 21st Century
The Strategic Research Programme ‘Demographic and Societal Challenges of the 21st Century’ is part of the Interface Demography (ID) research group, a centre at the Vrije Universiteit Brussel specialising in socio-demographic research. Central to the programme are social sustainability and social justice, with explicit reference to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.
Social sustainability and social justice are about equality, and above all about equal rights and opportunities for all groups to meet their basic needs: an acceptable quality of life in terms of environment, health, employment, human rights and diversity. These domains shape ID’s six research areas:
- Sustainable labour and employment
- A sustainable living environment
- Just and non-discriminatory social relations
- Global population issues and migration
- Inequalities in health and mortality
- Research data management and knowledge
The programme creates the conditions for ID to develop into one of Europe’s leading centres for socio-demographic research: investing in databases, coaching researchers and strengthening communication with policymakers and the wider public. It also stimulates new research, including a new data collection on the living and working conditions of today’s large migrant groups in Belgium.