Project Title: Age-It: Ageing Well in an Ageing Society

Funder: EU Next Generation Funding, as part of the National Recovery and Resilience Plan, Mission 4 “Education and Research” – Component 2 “From Research to Business” (Extended Partnerships, PE8)

Scientific Coordinator of the CNR ISMed Operational Unit and Task Leader: Luisa Errichiello

Lead Institution: University of Florence

Partners: Full list available on the official project page https://ageit.eu/wp/

CNR ISMed’s Role: Partner in Spoke 6 “Silver Economy: Work, Participation, and Welfare in Old Age” (Leader: Agar Brugiavini, UNIVE; Co-Leader: Claudio Lucifora, UNICATT; Affiliates: INPS, CNR, UNICAL, UNINA, GENERAL).

Total Funding Amount: € 115,243,888.77

Project Duration: 3 years (January 2023 – December 2025)

Objectives: The main objective of Age-It is to position Italy as a leading country in aging research. Through a holistic, transdisciplinary, and problem-solving approach, Age-It seeks to overcome the fragmentation of different aging research perspectives by involving a critical mass of partners, including research institutions, education and training centers, medical and care centers, civil society associations, businesses, and industries. The thematic areas (Spokes) of Age-It identify ten major challenges that promote active and healthy aging and the development of an inclusive society for all ages. These challenges are divided into six horizontal thematic Spokes and four vertical interdisciplinary integration Spokes.

• The first challenge is understanding the micro and macro demographic factors of aging, through a Data Science approach to decision-making.
• Addressing and countering population aging requires focusing on crucial thematic challenges: understanding the biology of aging, the clinical and functional factors related to multimorbidity, the life course trajectories of active and healthy aging, and the care and assistance sphere. These challenges are intertwined with the Silver Economy and the political and cultural dimensions of an aging society.
• The thematic challenges are integrated by three additional transdisciplinary challenges: interventions and technologies to reduce the burden of age-related diseases and disabilities, technological developments to meet the (new) needs of older people, and the reorganization and rethinking of aging-related policies.

Summary (Description)

Spoke 6 addresses the consequences of demographic transition for older individuals and the new socioeconomic context, in relation to the labor market, the production and exchange of goods and services, and financial markets. It aims to propose solutions for a new social welfare architecture, including pensions, healthcare, and long-term care for the elderly (LTC), highlighting the relationships between healthcare, the economic system, and the work and social spheres throughout individuals’ lives. These actions aim to enhance the ability of older people to make decisions and improve their well-being and standard of living.

CNR ISMed is the task leader within Work Package WP1 “Empowerment of Older Individuals and Workers: Human Capital and Productivity”, which has the following specific objectives:

• Develop a risk map related to work and trigger points throughout life, based on empirical evidence, to create a lasting impact on the well-being of older individuals;
• Define the Key Performance Indicators of the impact of aging on human capital at both individual and business levels, with productivity measures and the impact of automation processes on older workers;
• Evaluate the effects of the digital and green transitions on the demand for “young-old” labor within companies;
• Estimate a “career tracker” to identify policy interventions needed to make aging at work sustainable and active.

CNR ISMed is also involved in Work Package WP2, Task 2.2: “Measuring the quality of ageing and the working capacity: A preliminary research strategy on Work-Life Balance”.

For the research activities, CNR ISMed collaborates with CNR IRCrES: https://www.ircres.cnr.it/

Link to the project’s pages/channels: https://ageit.eu/wp/ 

Keywords (3-5): demographic transition, healthy and active aging, silver economy, human capital, productivity