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With funding of over 114 million euros and an army of 350 researchers, the challenge of Age-IT begins, the program dedicated to research on aging issues, presented today at the University of Florence.
This is one of the 14 extended partnerships – i.e. one of the investment lines envisaged by the Ministry of University and Research within the National Recovery and Resilience Plan (Pnrr) – which through a network of 27 partners (universities, research, industries, bodies and organisations), coordinated by the University of Florence, will be committed to studying how our society is evolving in order to design possible lines of intervention, from all points of view: social, economic, biomedical and technological.
«Age-It places Italy at the center of national and international research on the topic of aging (and its challenges), expressed throughout the entire life span and addressed in its various social, health and demographic dimensions – declares the rector of the Florentine University, Alessandra Petrucci – Being the leader of this partnership is of great importance for the University of Florence, which corresponds to the commitment and responsibility of contributing to the future prospects of our society”.
There are many questions that await an answer and to investigate: are there limits to the increase in survival in Italy? What has been the impact of Covid-19? Why is Italy’s fertility among the lowest in the world? What is the role of policies? Can migration counteract the aging process? How do sexual dynamics and the dynamics of formation and dissolution of unions change in a society in which we live longer and longer? What is the impact of climate change and pollution on the health of older people? What role will the Silver Economy play?
«These are some of the issues that we will address – underlines Daniele Vignoli, professor of Demography at the University of Florence and scientific coordinator of Age-It, already winner of a grant from the European Research Council dedicated to “Economic uncertainty and fertility in Europe” – with the objective of providing answers on the basis of scientific evidence and knowledge development forecasts”.