The Second International Interdisciplinary Congress on Age and Ageing was held from June 20th to June 22nd, 2017 at the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM) in Mexico City. The event, organized and led by Veronica Montes de Oca, sociologist and gerontologist, brought together participants from numerous countries and disciplines throughout Latin America, Spain and France, to discuss autonomy, mobility and adaptation in aging. The field of anthropology of aging was well represented, as well as sociology, psychology, philosophy, geriatrics, design and the arts, among others.
Iveris Martinez, Past-President of AAGE, gave one of the “master lectures” at the Congress on “Designing environments that promote social participation in aging populations – an interdisciplinary experiment.” In this, she called for moving out of our comfort zone and thinking creatively about collaborations across disciplines and age groups to address the potential challenges of population aging, such as social isolation and limited mobility. Iveris and other invited speakers also met with students during daily mentoring sessions to advise them on their career paths and answer any substantive questions. The event ended with student prices for photography and poster presentations, as well as daily cultural events.
