Thank you from the Conference Chair
Welcome to the British Society of Gerontology 53rd Annual Conference, 3– 5 July 2024, Newcastle University, United Kingdom
The conference was organised by the Centre for Ageing and Inequalities, and hosted by Newcastle University at the Newcastle Helix site. We were delighted to welcome 462 delegates from 27 different countries, spanning Europe, Asia, Africa, North America, South America, and Australasia. Almost 30% of delegates (including those presenting online) were from outside the UK, reflecting the global reach of the conference.
The conference theme was ‘New Directions in Ageing and the Life course’. We wanted the programme to explore how the lives of older people, and research on ageing, are changing in the context of social, political, and economic transformations. Ph.D. students, early career researchers and those new to the topic of ageing are clearly vital to pursuing new directions in ageing research, and the Emerging Researchers in Ageing Pre-Conference Event was a great success.
The conference was officially ‘opened’ with welcome addresses from our Vice Chancellor, Professor Chris Day, and from Anne Raffle, Chair of Newcastle Elders Council. This was followed by the first of three excellent plenary lectures that ‘spoke to’ the ‘new directions’ theme. Cathrine Degnen’s plenary explored ‘Intergenerational Othering, Solidarity, and Dispute in Brexity, Covidy Britain’. This provided fascinating insights on the experiences and perceptions of older people during these periods of tumultuous change. On the Thursday, we were delighted to welcome Phyllis Moen, who discussed ‘Work and Ageing in Turbulent Times’. This plenary explored dislocations between economic, political and technological upheavals and newly emerging, but uncertain, experiences of work in later life.
The final plenary on the Friday, by Judith Phillips, was titled ‘Back to the Future: Reconceptualising Environments of Ageing’. This charted the evolution of environmental gerontology and explored the future of ageing research and policy. Paul McGarry and Chris Phillipson acted as discussants, adding their insights on the implications of the newly elected Labour government on the research and policy changes discussed by Judith Phillips.
The conference programme also included a Journal of Global Ageing Flagship Symposium on Sustainable Development Goals, with Elena Moore, Tannistha Samata and Karla Giacomin discussing the circumstances of older people in South Africa, India and Brazil.
The Drinks reception and Gala Dinner at the Civic Centre were well attended, as were book and journal events from our sponsors. The Special Interest Groups Market Place provided people with the opportunity to learn about, and join, the different groups. In addition, we had an excellent range of oral paper and symposia sessions, alongside an extended session for posters. You can see the full conference programme here.
The conference is only possible because of the contributions of all delegates, and I want to thank everyone that presented an oral paper or a poster, organised a symposium, chaired a session or contributed in any other way.
David Lain
Conference Chair BSG 2024