The Formal Demography Working Group aims to bring together formal demography scholars and those interested in formal demography to discuss recent and classic work, brainstorm new ideas, and to foster new collaborations. We create a supportive and inclusive environment to learn, encourage people to work with formal methods, and discuss the past, present and future of formal demography.

The working group has three main branches to accommodate different interests and allow for an autonomous development of each topic. As shown in the diagram below, the working group will concentrate on Research, Training, and Forum.

Research is dedicated to advancing the field and sharing resources among scholars who are already working or would like to work on specific formal demography topics. It is intended to foster advancement in research.

Training is focused mainly on specific teaching tools and illustrate/translate formal demography techniques with codes. We hope to reinforce and inspire training that is already provided at demography centers and other important courses like the Berkeley Formal Demography Workshops.

Forum is centered around specific debates and seminars in the light of formal demography approach and mindset. Pressing topics like population shrinkage and whether mortality shocks are long-lasting or temporary (like COVID-19) can benefit greatly from being debated using formal demographic tools and relationships. Also the use of new and/or unusual data and methods applied to demography (like machine learning) could enable an innovative and differential use of formal demography and open new avenues for research questions.

Participation is not exclusive or conditional on a group. You can participate and engage on all groups or at only one. We will soon provide more information on group development and the calendar of activities for each!

Source:Own elaboration