4th Conference on Prolonging Working Life, 15-16 April 2027 Helsinki

Name: 4th Conference on Prolonging Working Life, 15-16 April 2027 Helsinki
Start: 2027-04-15T08:30:00+0300
End: 2027-04-16T16:00:00+0300

Towards sustainable working lives in times of demographic changes

Welcome to Helsinki

4th Conference on Prolonging Working Life (hybrid)

Towards sustainable working lives in times of demographic changes

Helsinki 15–16 April 2027
Venue: THL, Mannerheimintie 166, Helsinki and On-line

Aim of the Conference

The aim of the Conference is to share knowledge and discuss research results of the national and international projects related to Prolonging Working Life in times of demographic changes. The presentations can be given on-site or on-line in Teams.

To whom?

All researchers and experts interested in the topics are welcome. Participants are encouraged to submit an abstract with their own research to be presented at the conference.

Abstract submission

Submit your abstract here.

Abstract submission is open until 30 November 2026. The abstracts can have 1500 characters. Other instructions for the abstracts can be found in the abstract form.

Registration

There is no registration fee for either the on-line participants or on-site participants. Lunch and coffee will be provided by the organizers. However, on-site participants are responsible for covering their own travel and accommodation costs.
A Pre-Conference Workshop “Introduction to multistate modelling” will be held on Wednesday, 14 April 2027 from 9.30 to 17.00 (Helsinki time) and from 8.30 to 16.00 CET. Please find more information on the Workshop below.

Important dates

Abstract submission opens: 20 August 2026
Abstract submission closes: 30 November 2026
Informing decisions on abstracts: 15 January 2027
Registration closes: 30 March 2027 (On-site) and 11 April 2027 (On-line)

Pre-Conference Workshop

A Pre-Conference Workshop “Introduction to multistate modelling” will be arranged on Wednesday 14 April 2027 at 9.30–17 (Helsinki time) and 8.30–17 CET. This workshop is free and you can participate On-site in Helsinki or On-line in Teams. The Workshop is intended for reasearchers and statisticians and all others interested in multistate modelling.

Distinguished experts Dr. Christian Dudel and Dr. Daniel Schneider will lead this training workshop.

About multistate modelling

Many processes can be represented by the subjects under study being in, and transitioning between, states. Statistical modelling of such processes can be done using multistate models.
Multistate models are becoming an increasingly popular tool in public health, demography, and allied fields, as they provide many quantities to describe longitudinal data and life course trajectories. For instance, multistate models are commonly used to estimate healthy working life expectancy; i.e., the average lifetime spent in good health and in work.

What will you learn?

In this workshop, we provide an introduction to discrete-time multistate models, their theoretical foundations and assumptions, and their empirical estimation with R and Stata. Participants will be guided through all steps required to generate some of the key outputs of discrete-time multistate models, such as state expectancies.
This equips the participants with a first overview of the skills and tools needed to use and implement multistate models in their own research.

Programme

In the morning sessions we concentrate on the theory of the multistate modelling.
In the afternoon we have parallel sessions on R and Stata and do also exercises. Participants can use also their own data.
Morning sessions
- 9:30-13:00 Helsinki time
- 8:30-12:00 CET
Afternoon sessions
- 14:00-17:00 Helsinki time
- 13:00-16:00 CET

Registration

Registration for the 4th Conference on Prolonging Working Life and the Pre-Conference Workshop is seperate. You may participate in the Pre-Conference Workshop even if you do not attend the Conference itself.
Register for the Pre-Conference Workshop here.

Lecturers

Dr. Christian Dudel is leader of the Research Group Labor Demography at the Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, a fellow of the Federal Institute for Population Research, and member of the Max Planck-University of Helsinki Center for Social Inequalities in Population Health. His research interests cover demography, statistics, population health, and sociology.
Dr. Daniel Schneider is a research scientist in the Population Health laboratory at the Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany. Among his research interests are single and multiple time series analysis and discrete-time multistate models in epidemiology. While he works in several different statistical software environments, his published software contributions have mostly been to the Stata community.

Keynote speakers of the Conference

Susan is the Programme Director for the Strategic Research (2022—2027) in DEMOGRAPHY-programme, which provides solutions for adapting to changes in the age structure of the population and preserving society’s capacity to function and regenerate. She works also as the Head of Research at the Finnish Centre for Pensions and in charge of our research in support of the evaluation and development of earnings-related pensions in Finland. She has a Ph.D. in social politics (2004). She participated in, among other things, the social security reform committee during the period 2020–2027. Her areas of interest are pension and social security systems, as well as research on the income, poverty and welfare of the population.

Susan will give her keynote on Thursday morning on 15 April 2027.

Kerstin Nilsson is examined as Doctor of Medical Science in the research subject Public Health Epidemiology at Lund University and also examined as Doctor of Philosophy in the research subject Work Science at the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences.

Professor Nilsson has developed the SwAge model out of her researched on sustainable working life for and at all ages, a research started in 2002 at the Swedish Working Life Institute. The SwAge model includes the foundation and the four pillars of employability, work environment issues, the nine influence and determinant areas of to be able and willing to work, spheres of people's considerations to work at a workplace or leave their job, different ways to define age over the work life course, as well as what and how society, organizations, companies, HR, and managers affects and what measures and actions they can take to make workplaces and operations well-functioning, etc. The SwAge model is theoretical but has also practical implications and is used by authorities, politicians, decision makers, employees, trade unions, HR-experts, managers, occupational health services, etc..

Kerstin will give her keynote on Friday morning on 16 April 2027.

Topics

The topics include a wide range of subjects from the Work environment factors to the Future generations–young peoples’ position in working life.

Work environment factors (ergonomic/mechanical, physical, chemical, biological, psychosocial, organizational)
Work ability
Remote work, non-standard work arrangements
New technologies, digitalization, artificial intelligence
Senior policies and practical implementation of good senior practice in workplaces
Pension reforms
Age discrimination
Working while retired
Impact of demographic changes on working life
Future generations–young peoples’ position in working life
Migrant workers
Social and health care sector
Interventions
Care responsibilities, work-family balance
Healthy and unhealthy working life expectancy

Meet the Editors Session on Friday 16 April

Welcome to meet the editors of the internationally renowed periodical “Scandinavian Journal of Work, Environment and Health (SJWEH)” on Friday afternoon. The editors Annina Ropponen and Reiner Rugulies will present the editorial process, tips for successful publishing, while also being present for questions and discussions.

SJWEH (https://www.sjweh.fi/) is an independent journal, run on a not-for-profit basis by the Nordic Association of Occupational Safety and Health (NOROSH). The Journal aims to promote research in the fields of occupational and environmental health and safety and to increase knowledge through the publication of original research articles, systematic reviews, and other information of high interest.

Background of the Conference

This conference continues the series initiated by the PEROSH project “Prolonging Working Life” in 2018. The PEROSH project aims to identify both push and stay factors influencing the labour market participation of older workers across different European countries.

The first conference was organized by the National Research Centre for the Working Environment (NFA) in Copenhagen in 2020. The 2nd Conference was hosted by the National Institute of Occupational Health (STAMI) in Oslo Norway in 2022 and the 3rd by TNO in Leiden, the Netherlands, in 2024.

Today, the scope of the conference has broadened. In addition to its original focus, the themes of the Helsinki conference also include the position of young people in working life as well as the impact of demographic changes on working life.

Due to demographic changes across Europe, there are strong political interests in maintaining the labour force. Therefore, it is relevant for PEROSH to pursue collaborative activities in the research field ‘Prolonging working life’.

This project aims to determine push and stay factors for labour market participation of older workers across different European countries with different regulations and cultures to thereby better guide initiatives for maintaining older workers at the labour market across Europe.

Read about the Project and its results

Welcome to Helsinki – the capital of happiest country in the world!

Your local guide to Helsinki is My Helsinki, which will give you all the tips for exploring the city and enjoying your stay. The conference will take place in early spring, when the weather can be quite chilly, but it is still a wonderful time to get to know Helsinki. You may also want to check out some facts and tips about Finland at Visit Finland.

The Conference is organized at THL (Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare), located about 4 km from downtown Helsinki.
THL address: Mannerheimintie 166, Helsinki. You can view the Conference location (THL) on the map provided.

How to get to THL?

You can reach THL e.g. by tram no 10 which runs along the Helsinki's main street, Mannerheimintie. A single ticket (3,50 euros, zone AB) can be purchased in the HSL app .

How to get from the Airport to Downtown Helsinki?

You can take a train from the Airport to Helsinki City Centre. The trip takes about 30 minutes. A single ticket (4,50 euros, zone ABC) can be purchased in the HSL app .

Local Transportation – HSL

Please note that all local travel is cash free. We strongly recommend you to download the app HSL in advance of your trip to Helsinki. Using the app, you can check timetables and buy tickets for all public transportation within the Helsinki region. Open the AppStore or GooglePlay on your phone and search for “HSL”. You can also pay on trams and buses with your credit/debit card (Visa, MasterCard) with contactless payment, as well as Apple Pay and Google Pay.

Here are a few options for your accommodation close to the Venue THL.

Valo Hotel
Scandic Hotel Meilahti

Here are a few options for your accommodation in downtown Helsinki.

For mid-range comfort:
Sokos Hotel Vaakuna
Marski by Scandic
Radisson Red Helsinki

On a moderate budget:
Scandic Kaisaniemi
Hotel Finn
Hotel Arthur
CityBox
Eurohostel

Organizers

The Conference is organized by the Finnish Institute of Occupational Health (FIOH) in collaboration with the PEROSH Network, LIFECON and SustAgeable projects of the Finnish DEMOGRAPHY Programme.

Organizing Committee: Svetlana Solovieva, Taina Leinonen, Kristiina Kulha and representatives of SustAgeable and PEROSH Institutes e.g. NFA and STAMI.

Additional information

Svetlana Solovieva

Svetlana.Solovieva [at] ttl.fi

Phone

+358 30 474 2402

Taina Leinonen

Taina.Leinonen [at] ttl.fi

Phone

+358 30 474 2030

Kristiina Kulha

kristiina.kulha [at] ttl.fi

Phone

+358 30 474 2551

4th Conference on Prolonging Working Life, 15-16 April 2027 Helsinki

Welcome to Helsinki

4th Conference on Prolonging Working Life (hybrid)

Towards sustainable working lives in times of demographic changes

Helsinki 15–16 April 2027Venue: THL, Mannerheimintie 166, Helsinki and On-line

Aim of the Conference

Abstract submission

Registration

Important dates

Pre-Conference Workshop

What does the Workshop offer?

Keynote speakers of the Conference

Susan Kuivalainen Demography D.Soc.Sc, Docent, Director of the DEMOGRAPHY Programme, Head of Research Department, Finnish Center for Pensions

Kerstin Nilsson Prolonging working life Professor Public Health, Kristianstad University, Docent/Associate professor Work Science, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Docent/Associate professor Public Health Epidemiology, Lund University, and developer of the SwAge model

Topics

See examples of the topics

Meet the Editors Session on Friday 16 April

Scandinavian Journal of Work, Environment and Health (SJWEH)

Background of the Conference

Read more about the project “Prolonging Working Life”

Welcome to Helsinki – the capital of happiest country in the world!

Venue THL and local transportation

Accommodation

Organizers

Read more about the organizers

Additional information

Svetlana Solovieva

Taina Leinonen

Kristiina Kulha

Helsinki 15–16 April 2027
Venue: THL, Mannerheimintie 166, Helsinki and On-line