ABSTRACT
The role and status of older people in contemporary Europe, and indeed elsewhere in the world, is in flux. There is a heavily ageing population throughout Europe, and in the European Union there are decreasing resources to address the consequences of the trend through state-sponsored initiatives (Carone and Costello, 2006). The importance of this ageing issue and all its surrounding themes are in evidence in the 2012 EU project, the European Year for Active Ageing and Solidarity between Generations. It brings together European organizations and governments, not to mention researchers, social entrepreneurs and other issue professionals, focused on finding ‘innovative solutions to economic and social challenges facing the ageing European population’, with one goal ‘to help empower older people to stay in good physical and mental health and contribute more actively to the labour market and to their communities’ (AGE Platform Europe, 2012a). Among its many initiatives, the Year has occasioned ageing-related NGOs from nearly 30 countries to form the online platform, the AGE Platform Europe. (To express its affiliation with the European Year project, it has chosen the .eu top-level country code for its website, age-platform.eu.) Of interest initially are the actions and specific roles of the European non-governmental organizations in the research and provision of well-being strategies for the elderly as the populations grow older. How is the issue being addressed and by whom? How is ageing being made into a matter of concern? In other words, how is it being issuefied?
