NetResilience consortium was granted funding

September 27, 2021

The Strategic Research Council (SRC) at the Academy of Finland has decided on new consortia to be funded. The NetResilience consortium received funding from the Demographic Changes – Causes, Consequences and Solutions (DEMOGRAPHY) program.

The Social Networks, fertility and wellbeing in ageing populations: Building demographic resilience in Finland (NetResilience) consortium is led by Antti Tanskanen, Professor of Sociology at the University of Turku. Consortium received funding of four million euros together with Anna Rotkirch (Väestöliitto), Mirkka Danielsbacka (University of Turku), Virpi Lummaa (University of Turku), Markus Jokela (University of Helsinki) and Jari Saramäki (Aalto University). Väestöliitto is also responsible for the social interaction of the research.

Close social ties affect the wellbeing of individuals, families, and communities, and supporting these networks should become a social policy priority. The main aim of the research is to identify network characteristics that strengthen population resilience, or the ability to adapt to external shocks. Consortium studies how population change affects social networks, and how changing networks, in turn, shape population change and wellbeing.

For example, changes in size and structural features of social networks likely play a part in recent fertility declines in many wealthy societies. To study these changes, consortium memebrs apply complex network science methodology to real-life human networks using contemporary register and survey as well as historical Finnish data. The practical goal is to support targeted, cost-effective regional solutions to family, youth and ageing services in regions facing either depopulation or population growth.