About the summer school

Quality of life research has focused mainly on living standards and on satisfaction or happiness, incorporating economic, psychological and medical perspectives. A sociologically informed approach is less well developed although a series of reports by the European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working Conditions have helped to raise the level of sociological approaches. The Social Quality model proposed by a group of European social scientists includes a more theoretically developed approach to the quality of life by incorporating socio-economic security, social cohesion, social inclusion and social and cultural empowerment as aspects of the quality of society in general.  Additional discussion on the quality of life has included the idea of environmental sustainability. The quality of life debate therefore includes a variety of sociological perspectives and the aim of this workshop is to look at these issues in more detail.

Participants interested in the following issues can apply:

• Environment and the quality of life
• Social cohesion
• Social inclusion/exclusion
• Social integration
• Social and cultural empowerment
• Social policy and the quality of life

Venue

University of Crete, Greece, 14-18 July 2008.

35 places areavailable. All tuition and accommodation costs paid plus €300 towards travel costs.

Internationally renowned speakers and tutors, including Professor Tony Fahey, Professor Claire Wallace and Professor Sokratis Koniordos and others.

Sponsored by the European Sociological Association http://www.europeansociology.org/ and the CINEFOGO network of Excellence.

Application deadline: 29 February 2008.