Stocktaking of activities in active aging and work environment in policy, science and industry - The German case

Demographic change is one of the important future societal challenges and its effects like an aging society has a significant impact on national policy decisions due to its different determinants like e.g. falling birth rates, aging baby boomers and skill shortages. Even though this development is not new, appropriate approaches to address this social trend are unfortunately still lacking. Within the German Foresight Process I, the field of 'aging research' was identified as one of seven new future fields whose potential for national scientific research and innovation activities has not yet been quantified. However, so far, current progress in policy, science and industry seems in some respects largely unconnected or isolated. This paper provides an overview of these activities in the work environment context, conducing analyses covering the use of innovation policy measures, the topic discussions in scientific publications and the realizations in corporate contexts. The aim is to provide an integrated picture of the state of the different concepts in the field of 'active aging' in the different sub areas of a 'national' innovation and technology system in the case of Germany.1