RegistrationsKai Leichsenring is Executive Director at the European Centre for Social Welfare Policy and Research, Vienna, since 2016. His background is in Political Sciences/Social Policy and Communication Sciences (Dr.phil., University of Vienna) as well as in Organisational Development Consultancy. During his career as a researcher, he specialised in comparative and applied social research and policy consultancy with a focus on ageing, health and long-term care, and related issues such as governance and financing, quality management, labour conditions, user involvement and informal care. Apart from applied qualitative methods, he has also designed and analysed surveys related to needs assessment and labour conditions in LTC.
Apart from coordinating many national and European R&D projects he collaborated with regional and national governments, and international agencies (UNECE, OECD, WHO, Worldbank, UNDP). He has represented the research community at the UNECE Standing Working Group on Ageing and its Bureau since 2016. He participated in the study supporting a possible EU initiative on long-term care, commissioned by DG Employment (2021) and in various roles in Peer Reviews (DG Employment) since 2004. Moreover, he designed and facilitated workshops, conferences and trainings, and published a wide range of reports, books and articles, e.g.
• ‘Sharing the burden: the impact of long-term care on the financial situation of families in Europe’ (with R. Rodrigues and C. Simmons), pp. 266-298 in Cylus, J., Wharton, G., Carrino, L., Ilinca, S., Huber, M., Barber, S.L. (Eds.) The Care Dividend: Why and How Countries Should Invest in Long-Term Care. Cambridge 2025: Cambridge University Press.
• Facts and figures on long-term care (with N. Kalavrezou, M. Pot and S. Kadi). Vienna 2025: European Centre for Social Welfare Policy and Research.
• ‘Emerging Long-Term Care Systems – Learning from Comparison’ (with C. Simmons and J. Fischer), Chapter 15 in Morgan, J. & La Placa, V. (Eds.) Contemporary Issues in Health and Social Care Policy and Practice – A Comparative Introduction. Milton Park 2025: Routledge.
• A research agenda for ageing and social policy (Ed. With A. Sidorenko). Cheltenham 2024: Edward Elgar.
• ‘Making the invisible visible: The pandemic and migrant care work in long-term care’ (with S. Kadi and C. Simmons), Social Sciences, 2022, 11: 326. DOI: 10.3390/socsci11080326
• Long-term care in Europe – Improving policy and practice (Ed. with J. Billings and H. Nies). Basingstoke 2013: Palgrave Macmillan.
Inclusive and Sustainable Care for Older Persons
9 December 2025
Strasbourg, Palais de l'Europe, Room 10 & online
Programme
09.15 - 09.45 Registration and Coffee
09.45 - 10.15 Welcome and opening Remarks
Representatives of the CEB and the Council of Europe will give an entry to the discussions of the day.
Moderator: Isabelle Kumar
Speakers:
- Gianluca Esposito, Director General of Human Rights and Rule of Law
- Tomáš Boček, Vice-Governor of Target Group Countries, CEB
10.15 - 11.00 Session 1: Knowledge-sharing stage setting
A high-profile academic giving an overview of the numbers, tendencies and of the situation. This opening session will frame the discussion around the urgent need to ensure equitable access to health services across Europe, with a particular emphasis on care for older persons. As Europe's population continues to age, addressing disparities in health and social care provision for older persons has become increasingly critical. The session will highlight both challenges (such as regional inequalities, infrastructure gaps, and workforce shortages) and opportunities for more inclusive, sustainable models of care.
Speaker:
- Kai Leichsenring, Executive Director at European Centre for Social Welfare Policy and Research
11.00 - 11:30 Coffee break
11.30 - 13.00 Session 2: Shaping National Strategies for Inclusive Care for Older Persons: A European Policy Dialogue
This panel will give the audience a broad understanding of existing policies and strategies in place to provide inclusive care for older persons, both on national and European level. It will bring together CoE representatives and national authorities to facilitate exchange on strategies, challenges, and priorities in ensuring equitable access to health and social care services for older persons across Europe. The session will also reflect on how shared commitments under the European Social Charter can serve as a foundation for solidarity and coordinated action across national and regional levels.
Moderator: Isabelle Kumar
Speakers:
- Aoife Nolan, President of the European Committee of Social Rights
- Katarina Ivanković-Knežević, Director, Social Rights and Inclusion, European Commission
- Claudia Mahler, UN Independent Expert on the enjoyment of all human rights by older persons
- Krista Oinonen, Chairperson of the Council of Europe Steering Committee for Human Rights
- Georgios Stamatis, PACE Rapporteur on “Towards a family-friendly Europe”
- - Joanne Laban, 1st Vice-Chair of the Social Inclusion Committee of the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities, Councillor for Ridgeway Ward, Enfield
- Mélanie Lepoultier, Vice President of the Calvados Departmental Council, Head of the French Delegation to the Congress, and Deputy Standing Rapporteur on Human Rights
13.00 - 14.00 Lunch break
14.00 - 14.45 In-person Thematic Tables
(Blue Restaurant, Palais de l'Europe)
This session will offer participants an opportunity for direct engagement and interactive dialogue in an informal setting. Depending on the number of attendees, 4–5 thematic roundtables will be pro-posed, each focused on a distinct topic relevant to the conference themes. Participants will be placed on table based on their pre-selected thematic preferences, as coordinated by the organizing team. Please note that this session will be conducted entirely in English and no interpretation to other languages will be provided.
Possible topics:
• How to attract and keep new care professionals and ensure that we leave no one behind?
• Funding: how to access EU/CEB financing relating to social services for older persons?
• Innovative care solutions for older persons e.g. care villages for older persons; intergenerational co-living
• How to ensure that CoE member states meet their obligations for inclusion of the older persons?
15.00 - 16.15 Session 3: From Policy to Practice – Exploring Funding Needs and Innovative Solutions
This session will focus on how national strategies and European-level commitments to inclusive care for older persons are being translated into practice at the regional and local levels. Speakers will address the real-world needs and challenges faced when delivering accessible, coordinated, and dignified care for older persons - especially in light of demographic pressures, workforce constraints, and service fragmentation. The discussion will explore innovative funding solutions to support the scaling of inclusive care services for older persons across Europe. It will focus on how CEB and EU financial instruments, public-private partnerships, and innovative financing models are addressing the challenges of funding for care for older persons in the context of Europe's ageing population. Through concrete examples and interactive discussion, the session will explore what enables effective implementation, how different actors (national, regional, local) cooperate in practice, and how care systems can adapt to better serve older persons.
Moderator: Isabelle Kumar
Speakers:
- Ana Dávila-Ponce de León, Counsellor of Family, Youth, and Social Affairs of the Community of Madrid
- Katarina Ivanković-Knežević, Director, Social Rights and Inclusion, European Commission
- Pascal Tschörtner, Managing Director and Head of Care Home Division, bpa/ On behalf of the ECHO board
- Johannes Böhmer, Vice-Governor for Social Development Strategy, CEB
16.15 - 16:30 Closing Remarks
- Johannes M. Böhmer, Vice-Governor, Social Development Strategy, CEB
- Rafael Benitez, Director of Social Rights, Health and Environment, Council of Europe
Discussion paper
Financing the care gap
How multilateral development banks (MDBs) can help transform care for older persons.
Recordings
About the conference
As Europe’s population continues to age, ensuring equitable access to health and social care for older persons has become an increasingly urgent topic. Recent international and European initiatives, including the Council of Europe’s measures to combat age-based discrimination through the Parliamentary Assembly and to promote age-friendly communities via the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities and the UN Inter-Agency Group on Ageing’s 24 Common Messages on Population Ageing, have highlighted both the progress made and the challenges that remain.
These developments underline the necessity of joint, forward-looking action to ensure that ageing is met with dignity, inclusion, and social solidarity. At the Council of Europe level, the European Social Charter provides a solid framework for advancing social protection and inclusion, while the Council of Europe Development Bank is stepping up its support through financing social investment projects that foster innovative, sustainable care solutions and strengthen solidarity across generations.
The 2025 Council of Europe and the Council of Europe Development Bank joint conference on Inclusive and Sustainable Care for Older Persons, funded through the European Union InvestEU Advisory Hub, will serve as a platform for dialogue, knowledge exchange, and strategic thinking to explore how policy, legal standards, and social investment can respond to the challenges of ageing populations across Europe.
Participants
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