The aim of this call for proposals is to co-finance a partnership that can promote greater awareness of demographic and societal challenges and possible policy responses in the European Union among policy makers and lay audiences. For this purpose, grant funding will be offered to one project managed by a partnership made up of not-for-profit research bodies, public institutions and civil society organisations.

The partnership should focus on collection and dissemination of key facts, figures, trends and policy analysis regarding demographic change across the EU with the aim of reaching a wide non-specialist audience and promoting a well-informed public debate on its implications and appropriate policy responses among the general public in all Member States at all levels of government.

For this purpose the partnership could aim at preparing short web-oriented presentations that conveyed essential messages on demographic trends and the need to mitigate an adapt to them.

The partnership should also organise events where scientists and policy-makers can discuss the body of knowledge in demography and can identify research areas that are relevant to shaping the European economic and social system. Such events are crucial for policy-makers because it allows them to get to know how far and reliably research can support informed decisions; and for researchers because they get to know the areas of priority where their research can be of use for the European policy debate.

While there is considerable awareness of the main features of demographic change, i.e. ageing, low birth rates, intra EU mobility, regional depopulation and immigration from Third countries, the public debate on how to respond to the challenges of demographic change could benefit from a better understanding of the driving forces of such change and from a better understanding of what policy responses would be feasible and most desirable.

One main concern for the EU is the need to adapt the European welfare state to ageing and make full use of its labour potential in view of projected scarcity.

A considerable body of data and analysis is available, notably from national and European statistical offices and research institutes. Although such data and analysis is readily available through websites and print publications, this material is not sufficiently accessible to lay audiences and does not receive the attention it deserves in the debates on demographic trends and the related challenges.

The purpose of the grant to be awarded under the present call will be to promote a wider dissemination of high-quality data and analysis so that it can have an impact on the policy debate, on attitudes towards demographic change and possibly even adaptations in individual behaviour (e.g. regarding family or retirement planning).

The partnership benefiting from this grant should foster cooperation between demographic and communication experts so as to produce suitable material for use by journalists or easily consultable by lay audiences, for instance on a web site. It could also facilitate with the help of panel discussions and seminars for lay audiences the access of journalists to leading experts who would be willing to explain demographic trends and their implications. The production of teaching material for schools could also be part of such a project.

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