Engaged in the world

Global Social Issues on Ageing (GSIA)

Norah Keating directs the International Association of Gerontology and Geriatrics (IAGG), Global Social Issues on Ageing (GSIA) initiative, launched in March 2011 by social gerontologists from all world regions. Norah Keating is well-positioned to lead the GSIA. She was awarded an IAGG Presidential Award at the 2017 World Congress in San Francisco to recognize her outstanding career spent enhancing the quality of life of older adults, providing evidence to inform social and health policy for governments and NGOs, and building capacity around the world to address the social issues of aging. In 2020, she received the Award of Fellow of the Academy of Social Sciences (FAcSS) for her contribution to social science.

Norah Keating wrote a reflective article on We are all in this together: reimagining international societies.  First published in Chronica Horticulturae, the article is posted here with permission from the International Society for Horticultural Science – an organization she has longstanding ties to with her late husband, Dr. Norman Looney.  The reference is Keating, N. (2020). We are all in this together: reimagining international societies. International Society for Horticultural Science (ISHS), Chronica Horticulturae, 60(3), 8-10.

GSIA Mission

1. To foster collaboration and critical thinking about aging at the interfaces of regional issues and global trends;
2. To fill gaps in knowledge of key global environments of aging (Policy, Place, and People);
3. To build capacity in global discourses and analysis among emerging and established social gerontologists.

There is much to be done. Inequities are increasing both across and within nations. Ageism, marginalization, social exclusion, and isolation of older persons remain far too common.

3 key environments focus the GSIA lens

• Policy environment comprises societal values and beliefs, including ageism, legislative structures, and regulations. Research themes include the differential impact of national policy/values on the well-being of older persons and interfaces among legislation, programs, and implementation.
• Place environment comprises locations such as home, neighbourhood, and community. Research themes include age-friendly communities, aging in place, belongingness, and social exclusion.
• People environment comprises family and social relationships. Research themes include generational relationships and family care, loneliness, social embeddedness, and social isolation.

GSIA enhances capacity building

We are building capacity in social gerontology, underpinned by the principle of inclusion of scholars from all world regions through offering master classes, building networks of early career scholars, and awarding rising stars. We have offered GSIA Master Classes for Early Career Researchers in conjunction with IAGG World and Regional Congresses.

• 2019  Population ageing and work in later life, Taipei, Taiwan
• 2019  Policy challenges in life courses of social exclusion,  Swansea, UK
• 2019  Portraying old age and ageing to counteract ageism, Gothenburg, Sweden
• 2019  Developing international collaborations, Sydney, Australia
• 2017  Population ageing and liveable environments of older people, San Francisco, USA
• 2016  Families, ageing and care ,  Nairobi, Kenya
• 2015 Population Ageing and the Challenges of Integrating Paid Work and Family Care Work, Dublin, Ireland

GSIA Master Class on Population Ageing and Work in Later Life, 2019

The 2019 GSIA Master Class focused on Population Ageing and Work in Later Life was offered at the IAGG Asia-Oceania Regional Congress in Taipei in October 2019. Early career scholars were from Taiwan, Hong Kong, Japan, Sri Lanka, Thailand, New Zealand, and Australia. Participants learned from senior international scholars how aging research in general, and their own research in particular, contributes to varying portrayals of older workers.

 

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GSIA Master Class on Portraying Old Age and Ageing to Counteract Ageism, 2019