Final news update

News Update: 8 July 2011

Research Agenda on Families and Family Wellbeing for Europe

We are very pleased to announce publication of the FAMILYPLATFORM Research Agenda.

Research Agenda on Families and Family Wellbeing for Europe draws together all the previous work carried out by FAMILYPLATFORM, and therefore benefits from the input of more than 170 scientific experts and stakeholders from across Europe and beyond.

In it, seven cross-cutting themes of importance to families are outlined: care, life course and transitions, doing family, migration and mobility, inequalities and insecurities, media and new information technologies, and family policies. In each theme, societal challenges which need to be tackled by policy makers and other stakeholders are outlined alongside future research needs and relevant methodological issues. Together, they constitute a research roadmap for the European Union and national and regional levels for the years ahead.

It will be of particular interest to policy makers, who work on issues such as the wellbeing of families and children, gender equality, reconciliation of work and family life and demography. In addition, it provides a vast pool of research questions for researchers, and a firm scientific foundation for civil society organisations.

Download from the FAMILYPLATFORM website, or from the permanent repository.

Book publications: Families in Europe – Volumes 1 & 2

Two books are being published to disseminate the work completed by FAMILYPLATFORM.

Families in Europe – Volume 1: Family Wellbeing: Challenges for Research and Policy is edited by Uwe Uhlendorff, Marina Rupp & Matthias Euteneuer. It includes edited versions of the final reports of work on Major Trends, Critical Review, Future of Families, and the Research Agenda. It should be indispensable reading for all policy makers, researchers, and other stakeholders involved in working towards improving the wellbeing of families in Europe.

Families in Europe – Volume 2: Spotlights on Contemporary Family Life is edited by Linden Farrer & William Lay (Confederation of Family Organisations in the European Union). It contains edited versions of all of the Volumes of the Online Journals produced by FAMILYPLATFORM: Structures and Forms, Solidarities in Contemporary European Families, Demography and the Family in Europe, and Volunteering and Families. Shedding light on important cross-cutting issues affecting families in Europe - and issues which are already high up the European policy agenda -, it should be of particular interest to policy makers and researchers interested in contemporary families.

FAMILYPLATFORM Policy Brief

A policy briefing has been produced containing condensed versions of the key messages of the FAMILYPLATFORM project. It is a quick way of focussing on the key policy issues outlined by the project. To download: http://www.familyplatform.eu/en/doc/325/FAMILY+PLATFORM_Policy_Brief_Final_04072011.pdf

German language summary of the Existential Field reports

Arbeitsgemeinschaft der deutschen Familienorganisationen (AGF) e.V., has produced a German language summary of the FAMILYPLATFORM Existential Field Reports.

AGF has involved itself intensively with these reports and have taken primarily a German perspective. Thus a German version has been developed which graphically emphasises the research gaps recognised from a German perspective. The aim of the summary is to present a quick overview and summary of FAMILYPLATFORM’s work. It therefore serves as an ‘appetiser’ for the original reports.

To download them visit: http://www.ag-familie.de/news/1308046288newszukurzfassunfamilyplatform.html.

FAMILYPLATFORM permanent URL

 All of FAMILYPLATFORM’s key reports have been uploaded to a ‘permanent URL’. Each report has its own URL, which should be used for all referencing purposes. Visit https://eldorado.tu-dortmund.de/handle/2003/27684.

FAMILYPLATFORM website

The FAMILYPLATFORM project has come to an end, and for this reason the commenting and other interactive elements of the website have been shut down. However, the website will continue to exist, at least for the next year, and people can continue to register to receive (occasional) news updates regarding the project and future project(s).