The 6th Portuguese Conference on Demography

Lisbon, Portugal, 13 & 14 October 2022

By Paulo Machado and Lara P. Tavares 

With the organization of the VI Portuguese Conference of Demography in Lisbon, Portugal in October 2022, the Portuguese Association of Demography (Associação Portuguesa de Demografia - APD) once more took on the responsibility to organize a public discussion on contemporary population issues. APD is composed of academics and population specialists who, for the past 20 years, have been conducting research in universities, research centres and in public and private institutions.

Demographic sustainability was identified by the conference organizers as key to understand social transformations. These transformations have been occurring all over the world, including in the Western countries who face very low or even negative population growth, strong population ageing and unprecedented generational imbalances. This concept of demographic sustainability, yet to be consolidated, interconnects known demographic challenges such as ageing populations, internal and international migrations, and low birth rates. The focus of demographic sustainability is very clearly oriented towards dealing with the dynamics that are detrimental to territorial social cohesion and lead to regional imbalances, or for these to persist, and that are very challenging for socio-economic development. Particularly in Portugal, demographic unsustainability can be seen as a structural feature of the society, persistent over its long history.

On October 13th and 14th around 150 participants (almost as many Portuguese as colleagues from abroad, which by the way posed a logistical challenge and led the Conference to become hybrid) addressed contemporary demographic issues, enriching the debate with a wide interdisciplinary spectrum of contributions: demographic analysis, historical demography, economics, sociology, political science, among other areas. It was stimulating to have presentations from research carried out in countries as distinct as Brazil, India, Russia, Israel, Ivory Coast or Spain, just to mention a few. 

Perhaps the most innovative aspect of this 6th APD Conference was the space granted to speakers from the political arena: parliamentarians and members of the Central Government, as well as political commentators, leaders of national bodies with responsibilities in the production and dissemination of demographic data, and a director of the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA). Together they made this meeting the most attended by speakers without specific demographic training since the APD started organizing these Conferences. The idea was to scrutinise the meaning of population policies (especially in the discussions involving parliamentarians), but also to discuss what divides the political Left and the Right on these matters. It is worth highlighting the intervention of the Head of Parliament, Augusto Santos Silva, who placed population issues on a supra-partisan level, considering demographic challenges as a collective goal. He also spoke of the need to understand and study the reality around us before talking and getting emotional about it, mentioning that one of the main contributions of research and scientific knowledge is the ability to analyse complex issues. In the same line, he advocated for an interdisciplinary approach to the demographic reality, which he sees as a fundamental pilar of human development.  

The Keynote speaker of the Conference, the Norwegian population economist Vegard Skirbekk, spoke about the need for a new social organisation adapted to a demographic regime of low fertility. Skirbekk pointed out that fertility will likely fluctuate at fairly low levels but argued that instead of focusing on increasing fertility, which is a very difficult endeavour, we should focus on dealing with it in the best possible way. He stressed that we should focus much more on increasing health and how one remains productive. In his own words “ageing is not destiny and depends on political investments on how well we age (…) [so] the future is characterized by low and late fertility, which could be quite fine.”

This conference, which was held at and supported by the University of Lisbon, notably by the Instituto Superior de Ciências Sociais e Políticas and the Centre for Public Administration and Public Policies, tested the relevance of the concept of “Public Demography” as a scientific practice that seeks to push the disciplinary boundaries of demography in order to engage with non-academic audiences. The promotion of demographic literacy among both the general public and, especially, policy makers is key to this.

Versão em português.