The Einstein Center Population Diversity (ECPD) – Unfolding unequal life courses within diverse families in aging societies – is an interdisciplinary research hub based in Berlin, Germany. The research is carried out by a consortium of seven partner sites that will study the prerequisites and consequences of increasing population diversity for social inequality and health disparities. The specific focus will be on the growing diversity of families within the context of healthy aging, including changing conceptions and boundaries of the family itself.
The ECPD synergises research streams and aims across two key disciplines: biomedical sciences and social sciences. Through a uniquely symbiotic and strategically aligned collaboration between these two commonly fragmented methodological approaches, the ECPD aims to conceptualise, explore and put to practice the mechanisms connecting family diversity with health and social inequalities.
A more nuanced understanding of the drivers and dynamics of population diversity and social inequality is highly essential for evidence-informed decision-making in a considerable number of policy fields. In order to actively contribute evidence-informed policymaking, a further structural component aims to create a transdisciplinary forum with a target group composed of key stakeholders from academia, governance, business and civil society, based in Berlin and at regional, national, European and international levels. Key tools for that purpose will be expert meetings and stakeholder workshops to evaluate best practice examples and policies, public events promoting citizens’ engagement, and real-world laboratories.
The ECPD is funded by the Einstein Foundation Berlin, a foundation that aims to promote international cutting-edge research in and for Berlin. It was founded in 2009 by the State of Berlin. The Einstein Foundation is unique in the German funding landscape due to its independent work and its focus on the state of Berlin. It helps to strengthen science as a decisive factor for the future in Berlin, to further expand the science location and to make it more visible.
Find out more about the project here.