From 23 to 25 October, the Castle of Calonge (Girona) hosted the First International Scientific Seminar, “The New Longevity: Challenge and Opportunity”, organised by the Experience Campus with the support of Calonge i Sant Antoni Town Council.

The institutional opening ceremony featured Dr Eduardo Mirpuri, vice-rector for International Relations at UIC Barcelona, who emphasised that initiatives such as this seminar reflect the University’s commitment to society and its vocation to be a global, open, and outward-looking institution. The event brought together representatives from leading university federations for older adults – AIUTA, EFOS, AEPUM, and the Age Friendly Universities Global Network (AFU) – alongside Javier Yanguas, scientific director of the Older Adults Programme at the ‘la Caixa’ Foundation, and Margaritis Schinás, former vice-president of the European Commission (2019–2024).

Over the course of three days, experts from universities in Europe, the Americas, and Africa discussed how to respond to the phenomenon of new longevity, marked by the arrival of the baby boomer generation at retirement age – a generation that is better educated and with new life expectations. According to Yanguas, “those born between 1957 and 1973 are the protagonists of this new stage of life, which will last two or three decades longer than that of their predecessors”. He stressed that “promoting self-care or active ageing is not enough: it is essential to foster spaces for interaction and personal growth”.

The seminar’s sessions were structured around four thematic strands aimed at addressing the social and educational challenges of ageing. Pilar Escuder Mollón, from the University for Older Adults at Universitat Jaume I, highlighted the need to “give meaning and purpose to this stage of life in order to achieve a positive view of ageing”. Along the same lines, Carmen Romero (Bhital) pointed out that wellbeing “must be cultivated through thoughts, emotions and habits”, and insisted on the importance of continuing to promote the empowerment of older adults and the management of early retirement.

Social prescribing: a key to wellbeing

One of the most notable concepts discussed at the meeting was social prescribing, a practice that complements medical prescribing and is already being successfully implemented in the English-speaking world. Christine O’Kelly, from AFU Ireland, explained that “wellbeing grows when people have purpose and participate in the community; relationships are the real medicine of our time”. This approach seeks to connect people with community activities that improve wellbeing and meaning in life, promoting autonomy and social connection.

From a European perspective, Margaritis Schinás emphasised Europe’s role as a benchmark for social wellbeing and advocated for a unified voice among academics, policymakers and institutions to address global demographic shifts: “Europe’s unified voice must also include older generations and their active potential.”

The seminar also analysed the value of Erasmus+ exchanges between senior students, an initiative that promotes cultural cohesion and the transmission of shared values through continuing education.

University programmes for older adults: a tool against loneliness

Participants agreed on the transformative role of university programmes for older adults, which help reduce loneliness and maintain social engagement. Marián Alesón, president of AEPUM and director of the Permanent University of the University of Alacant, stated that “new pathways must be opened to innovate and adapt to a generation of older adults who are more educated and active”.

The seminar also served to strengthen the collaborative network among European universities and to promote new joint projects in research, best practices and academic mobility within university programmes for older adults.