Conference room at the Netherlands Interdisciplinary Demographic Institute, The Hague.
Population Europe was founded in 2009
Previously, the idea circulated in the European demography community that the leading research centres in the field should join forces to disseminate reliable research results on recent and future population developments to the policy arena. The European Commission showed great interest in working more closely with the population research community to support evidence-based policy-making on the challenges of demographic change. One option was a larger "European Demographic Research Ensemble", another a "European Population Partnership".
In February 2009, James W. Vaupel (Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research (MPIDR), Rostock) took the initiative to merge the two ideas in close collaboration with eminent scholars in the field of population studies in Europe, including Jane C. Falkingham (University of Southampton), François Héran (Institut national d'études démographiques (INED), Paris), Wolfgang Lutz (Vienna Institute of Demography) and Frans Willekens (Netherlands Interdisciplinary Demographic Institute (NIDI), The Hague).
The European Association for Population Studies, the scientific arm of the demographic community, strongly supported the creation of the network, and it was agreed that Population Europe could operate under the auspices of EAPS. Since 2009, the two organisations have been working closely together, including co-hosting board meetings and stakeholder events such as the Berlin Demography Days.
Demography Drives Your Future - the first corporate image of Population Europe
Starting the Journey
The basic principles of the new partnership were outlined and agreed by a wider group of eminent demographers from across Europe, as well as Nico van Nimwegen (NIDI), Andreas Edel and Harald Wilkoszewski (both MPIDR). Further discussions and a first preparatory workshop took place at INED in Paris in May 2009. It was attended by a large number of eminent demographers from across Europe and demonstrated the potential of such collaborative network as well as the importance of evidence-based policy advice. Participants included Anna Cabré, Ellen Carnevale, Graziella Caselli, Ernestina Coast, Cathrine Daurèle, Andreu Domingo, Gustavo de Santis, Helga A.G. de Valk, Gabriele Doblhammer, Jane C. Falkingham, Anne Gauthier, Anne Goujon, François Héran, Irena Kotowska, Godelieve Masuy-Stroobant, Gilles Pison, Chiara Pronzato, Nico van Nimwegen, James W. Vaupel, Anatoly Vishnevsky and Guillaume Wunsch.
A few weeks later, on 15 June, the European Population Partnership was formally launched at a meeting hosted by NIDI in The Hague, where the network's institutional set-up and work programme were thoroughly discussed and approved by all founding partner institutes. Andreas Edel and Harald Wilkoszewski were elected as the founding team of the Secretariat, soon joined by Insa Cassens and Antje Peters.
In September 2009, at the IUSSP International Population Conference in Marrakech, the network agreed on a new name, which it has been carrying ever since: Population Europe.
The first Population Europe Event in Brussels at the Belgian Royal Academy of Sciences in 2010
For the Partners, From the Partners
Since its formative years, the network has more than doubled in size, from 18 founding members to 41 leading demographic research centres across Europe today. More than 250 eminent population researchers contribute as individual experts to its activities.
Twenty-two institutional partners – the European Commission, the OECD and various United Nations organisations among them – established collaborative ties with the network. Today, almost all countries of the European Union are covered by partner institutes or experts of Population Europe
In its first 15 years of existence, the secretariat, together with the partners and experts, organised on average more than 20 events, conferences, workshops and meetings per year.
In addition, Population Europe published almost 50 major outlets per year (Discussion Papers, Policy Briefs, Policy Insights, and Population Digests). Its social media channels have more than 9,000 followers on X and almost 1,000 followers on LinkedIn. Information is distributed to a mailing list of over 10,000 validated contacts.
Population Europe's third-funded travelling exhibition toured 30 venues across Europe.
Generous Support from State and Private Sector
In its first years, initial funding for Population Europe was provided by the Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research. From 2009 to 2024, Population Europe successfully raised and participated in 36 projects from public institutions and private funding agencies, amounting to a total funding of more than 8.5 million euros.
It contributed to projects of the partners but also pursued its own projects, such as the Travelling Exhibition “How to get to 100 – and enjoy it” (2013-2019) or the Tuesday Dialogue Series (from 2020). Since 2012, Population Europe has been involved in the Berlin Demography Days, which has become one of its flagship activities. In 2024, the Population Europe Policy Lab was established.
Funding has been provided by the European Commission (Directorate-General for Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion; the Directorate-General for Research and Innovation), the German Government (the Federal Ministry for Family Affairs, Senior Citizens, Women and Youth; the Federal Ministry of Health; the Federal Ministry of the Interior and European Affairs; the Federal Ministry of Research) and the Council of the Baltic Sea States. The Max Planck Society and the Economic and Social Research Council of UK Research and Innovation has also provided funding through competitive procedures.
The projects also received support from private companies and funding agencies: Allianz SE, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the Einstein Foundation Berlin, the Förderfonds Wissenschaft in Berlin, the Friede Springer Stiftung, the German Insurance Association, the Robert Bosch Stiftung, the Stifterverband, the Stiftung Mercator and VDI/VDE Innovation + Technik.
Since 2010, Population Europe has been based at the WissenschaftsForum Berlin, which also hosted the Berlin Demography Days.
Team Spirit
This success story is due to the very fruitful collaboration between the partners and experts who make their policy-relevant research available and discuss it with stakeholder audiences, as well as to the work of the dedicated team members of the Population Europe Secretariat.
Further, the Secretariat provided work and training opportunities for more than 22 students and interns between 2009 and 2014, and it hosted a number of visiting scientists, research coordinators and science communicators from partner institutions for staff exchange and secondments.