Eight years now, tracking conferences related to the field of aging and longevity, this is the second where the event world has gone Virtual, though last January in the conference round up, nobody saw it coming full on. We follow naturally on the heels of 2020, where technology has saved the day with conferences and webinars hosted on platforms like the mighty Zoom!
While there are no doubt many conferences or forums taking place with global or regional reach, I tend to avoid featuring events that are overtly commercial in nature. As in previous years, there will be pop-up events that don’t make this opening list, and I will mention those appropriate when they appear. In addition, some organizations only hold bi-annual conferences, and there are those that have chosen to skip this year.
Although not in order of date, I begin with the International Federation on Ageing, as they took the decision early on to reschedule the November 2020 conference; and after taking the long view of where the COVID world was heading, decided to wait for a full year. Then last fall, the organization went with providing the option of a Virtual & In Person participation.
As in 2018, Change Rangers is a Conference Partner and in 2020 became an Associate Member, encouraged by the value brought by the IFA’s decision to run a weekly Global Town Hall series. Town Halls resume January 8th and have helped develop family ties within the membership, building a conversational bridge towards what will likely be a stronger conference in November.
International Federation on Ageing: 15th Global Conference
Nov.9-12 Virtual & In Person – Niagara Falls, Canada
Theme: Rights Matter. The conference will focus on action areas of the WHO’s The Decade of Healthy Ageing 2020-2030 with emphasis on conference sub-themes: ageism, age-friendly cities and communities, primary health care, and long-term care alongside older people and pandemics. The IFA is accepting abstract submissions now for symposiums, workshops, papers and poster presentations under each of these themes.
Asian Conference on Aging & Gerontology – A-Gen 2021
March 29-31 Virtual from Tokyo, Japan
Once again, in partnership with the IAFOR Research Centre at Osaka University, this 7th annual conference is still accepting calls for abstract submissions until Jan. 15 and unlike last year the event has presented no principal theme.
Wide open for professionals in aging and longevity, the website does give the range of topic areas accepted from a variety of fields and perspectives – “Original research across disciplines, including science and technology, philosophy and politics, sociology, and psychology.” AGen 2021 is also partnering with The Asian Conference on Psychology & the Behavioral Sciences
American Society on Aging: On Aging Conference
April 6-15 Virtual
Guided by five intersecting themes that the American Society on Aging has identified – social justice, health & well-being, economic security, ageism & culture, and innovation & social impact; this 2021 conference will focus on how the issue of equity intertwines with all of these five themes.
Because of the flexibility of going virtual, this multi-disciplinary conference spreads over a two-week period. As of today the detailed content and names of speakers is not yet available, however if the newly branded organization with its complimentary webinar program is anything to go by, this conference looks like a marked progression from the last few years.
British Society of Gerontology
July 7-9 Virtual – hosted by Lancaster University
This is the 50th Annual conference for the BSG with the theme Ageing Past, Present and Future: Innovation and Change. There are fifteen sub-themes, many of which have been widely covered in many conference programs over the last number of years, but maybe this past, present and future position will draw out a better conversation on each of these.
Of these sub-themes, here are two, more niche ones that are sometimes overlooked, with the question – where are we now and where are we going? – Diversity and culture in later life, Gender diversity and sexuality in later life.
Aging & Social Change Conference
Sept.23-24 Virtual & In Person – Vancouver, Canada
Special Focus – Aging Societies: Extended Working Lives & Discrimination Against Older Workers – featuring four dynamic themes including Social and Cultural Perspectives on Aging. This year’s Eleventh Interdisciplinary Conference is accessible much the same as the IFA Conference in November. As a former conference producer, I give credit to the Aging & Social Change Network from a design point of view, for the various ways in which you can participate in this event, described as “a blended conference experience”
Canadian Association on Gerontology Conference
Oct.21-23 Toronto, Canada
Hindsight 20/20: Looking Back for a Vision Forward in Gerontology
“With back-up plans for a Virtual Conference”, this is the CAG’s 50th Annual Scientific and Educational Meeting. I’m not sure why, at this stage in our COVID reality, the CAG is waiting with a back-up plan; why not get with the tour as the rest of the conference planners are doing (maybe too much looking back). That critique aside, like the British Society of Gerontology, celebrating fifty years is an achievement.