Research

Europe experiences dramatic social and demographic changes. These are characterized by a progressively declining and low birth rate and greater longevity. Extrapolations by Eurostat predict that there will be an increase of the “old old” people above 80 years within the next 15 years, while the proportion of persons within the active age between 15 to 64 years will decrease. The ratio between active and inactive persons will dramatically change from now on till 2040 and threaten the sustainability of public finances and resources. All these changes will challenge the European societies on several dimensions. Without claiming to be complete, one may list here: social security and welfare - education and employment - health and health provision - migration and integration - social inclusion and exclusion - intergenerational relations. All these areas represent research domains of the Integrative Research Unit on Social and Individual Development . 

Common goal of INSIDE research is to develop and elaborate an ever-broadening knowledge base, that will promote a sustainable social development . This is done on the basis of interdisciplinary research combining complementary methodological approaches and theories; participating disciplines include psychology,sociology,educational sciences,social pedagogy and social work.

 Three major objectives motivate research within INSIDE:

• Scientific knowledge production

         –i.e., developing a set of core knowledge on a national and international basis by integrative interdisciplinary research;

• Training   and education

         –i.e., developing new training programs  for new skills and different target groups across the life span;

• Consultation

         –i.e., consultation of and cooperation with business firms, national stakeholders and decision makers.