Loneliness affects many, and it harms both individuals and communities. The project “The Social Isolation and Loneliness in Europe Network: Evidence-Based Policy Recommendations on its Causes, Consequences, and Monitoring” (LONELY-EU) is designed to combat this problem. Coordinated by Professor Maike Luhmann, a psychologist at Ruhr University Bochum, Germany, an international consortium is devising methods for sharing knowledge and pooling expertise. The aim is to encourage decision-makers to develop targeted and fact-based measures to prevent and reduce loneliness. From February 1, 2025, the project receives a grant from the European Commission for three years, amounting to approximately 3 million euros. The subsidy is part of the Horizon Europe program.
Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, School of Business and Economics, is one of the participants in the project. Judith Merkies represents the university, and within the consortium she is responsible for the coordination and analysis of policy proposals across European countries. By combining expertise from policymakers, researchers, and civil society, she aims to make sure that research on social isolation and loneliness leads to practical, evidence-based policies to reduce social isolation and loneliness at local, national, and EU levels.
Loneliness on the political agenda
Judith Merkies has been actively working in this field for over a decade. As a former MEP, she was the first to bring up loneliness in the European Parliament in 2010, highlighting how even in a socially connected world, individuals can feel profoundly isolated. Her question sparked a broader conversation about the role of social media in social isolation.
After her time as an MEP, Merkies has continued her efforts to put loneliness and its consequences on the political agenda. “At first, hardly anyone understood my call,” Merkies reflects, “But during the pandemic, that changed: suddenly, everyone experienced how lonely it can be to only have contact with others through a screen.” The European Commission’s think tank, the Joint Research Centre, then began collecting data on loneliness, which resulted in a report. Merkies: “Now that we know more about loneliness, it’s time for the next step: what are we going to do about it? That’s what this project is about."
More information
Updates about the project will be published on www.lonelinessineurope.eu.
Would you like to know more about the research of VU School of Business and Economics? Contact science communicator Yrla van de Ven, y.f.van.de.ven@vu.nl or 06-26512492.