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ASPRI

Latvia
http://szf.lu.lv/eng/petnieciba/sppi-instituts/

The Advanced Social and Political Research Institute (ASPRI) is one of the leading social science research institutes in the Baltic countries. ASPRI is the institute of the Faculty of Social Sciences of the University of Latvia, a place where the key experts in social sciences in Latvia work together. ASPRI is a multi-disciplinary research institute actively participating in a dialogue both with national level policy-makers, civil society and think tanks.

Each project implemented by ASPRI includes a strong component of public engagement, consultation with stakeholders, efforts to bring together various actors in society (academia, media, civil society, industry, business and public administration). Most research activities result in specific recommendations to relevant bodies developed in participatory process.

One of the key directions of ASPRI research is human development: the broadening of opportunities for human activities on local, regional and national level, in the context of global development trends. Research on ageing at ASPRI is conducted within the perspectives of human development and quality of life. Within the framework of research of quality of life in Latvia particular attention has been paid to subjective wellbeing of older generation.

Several research projects on the quality of life of Latvian seniors have been carried out by ASPRI researchers. The most important of them is the research project on the quality of life in gerontological institutions in Latvia, implemented among 2004-2006.

What are our goals within SIforAGE?

Although we participate in many Work Packages (WP) of the project, our activity is mainly focused on WP1, WP6 and WP9. The objective of WP1 is to promote a social innovation incubator, which will give a framework to the different type of stakeholders working in the field of active and healthy ageing, which will enable to increase the coordination of stakeholders and to promote social innovation and responsibility in research.

When it comes to WP6, its main objective is to analyse the approach used by scientists and research organisations to prioritise the topics and areas in which they carry out research. There is an increasing debate on the social responsibility of research areas addressed. The need for greater investments in ageing research has been argued in Europe for many years, most recently by FUTURAGE.

WP9 is dedicated to communicating with a wider audience about the project, the issues it addresses and its results. Through ongoing targeted dissemination activities the consortium will raise awareness, inform and engage two core target groups working on active and healthy ageing, namely policy makers and academia, whilst also reaching out to other stakeholders (private sector, civil society, the general public). Specifically, ASPRI goals in WP9 are:

  •  To inform and raise awareness about SIforAGE, the issues it addresses, its relevance and results.
  • To promote active participation, engagement and dialogue among stakeholders including actors from regional and local government, researchers, private sector and civil society organisations in the EU and international level.
  • To contribute to scientific debate and future research activities on active and healthy ageing.
  • To provide to the policy makers and stakeholders some policy recommendations on how to define policies addressed to improve the cohesion and cooperation between EU regarding the aging challenge.

For more information: http://szf.lu.lv/eng/petnieciba/sppi-instituts/