Population change and sustainability: The challenges and opportunities of Scotland’s ageing population

Katherine Keenan , University of St Andrews

This contribution from the newly-formed St Andrews Centre for Critical Sustainabilities will see panellists discuss the structural issues that underpin the sustainable future of society – capital, inequalities, justice – exploring the value of demographic research in developing new thinking and policies to better assure the future of communities around the globe. This discussion is particularly pertinent in Scotland given challenges around maintaining a sustainable total population size, maintaining sustainable age structures within our population, and maintaining a sustainable spatial balance of population across Scotland’s urban, rural, and remote locations. Moreover, climate change predictions for Scotland suggest that certain populations and places will be disproportionately impacted – how does a nation such as Scotland anticipate, plan, and adapt to these likely changes in a ‘just’ way, how does a ‘Scotland of the Future’ learn from the experiences of other countries, and how might we share our learning with others? Join us for a lively discussion at the intersection of population, demography, sustainability, climate change and justice – relevant to discussions of Sustainable Populations in Scotland, and beyond.

No extended abstract or paper available

 Presented in Session P93. Population Change and Sustainability: The Challenges and Opportunities of Scotland’s Ageing Population