Loneliness is more than a personal feeling, it’s a growing public health and social policy challenge across Europe. Around 13% of EU citizens say they feel lonely most of the time in the past four weeks, and this isolation has wide-reaching effects: it harms mental and physical health, lowers trust in institutions, reduces civic engagement, and strains healthcare systems. With demographic changes, urbanization, and digital life shifting how people connect, loneliness is hitting people of all ages.
LONELY-EU aims to develop proposals for monitoring loneliness across Europe and provide recommendations for implementing these measures at the EU level. The project brings together experts from across disciplines and countries to form a dynamic network for exchange and cooperation. The ultimate goal is to support policymakers with practical, evidence-based strategies to prevent and reduce loneliness in diverse social and cultural contexts.
The VU team plays a key role in building and coordinating a European network of researchers, policymakers, and stakeholders working to address loneliness and social isolation. Our team focuses on fostering collaboration, facilitating knowledge exchange, and developing practical, evidence-informed policy recommendations to support decision-makers at local, national, and EU levels.
The Consortium:
Maike Luhmann – Ruhr University Bochum
Hans IJzerman – Annecy Behavioral Science Lab (ABSL)
Patrizia Catellani – Catholic University of the Sacred Heart of Milan
Rob Blaauboer – Fioti
Katarzyna Growiec – SWPS University
Cristiano Vezzoni – Università degli Studi di Milano
Judith Merkies – Vrije Universiteit
