Transforming care: innovation and sustainability (3rd Transforming Care Conference, 26-28 June 2017, Milan, Italy)

The focus of the ‘3rd Transforming Care Conference’ was twofold: (1) tensions between policy and social innovation in care policies; and (2) pressures on the financial and social sustainability of care systems. The rationale for choosing these topics stems from the fact that care policies are rooted in dynamic and unstable financial and social environments, thereby necessitating responses to many long-term and intergenerational challenges. At the same time, such challenges and policy responses are inherently complex, and any analysis needs to include the perspectives of carers, those in need of care and others involved in caring.

The conference aimed to bring together scholars from different backgrounds and perspectives to discuss how care is being transformed in ‘turbulent, multifaceted and changing contexts’. It addressed a range of topics: early child education and care, care for adults with disabilities and long-term care for older people