The conference and round table discussions took place over 3 days during which a total of 52 participants attended a programme of lectures/presentations. The conference attracted a broad international audience from diverse backgrounds: 30 academics, 11 students, 8 NGO representatives and 3 policy makers from the UK, Spain, the United States, Australia, Japan, Portugal, Trinidad & Tobago, Argentina, Mexico, South Korea, South Africa, Peru, Uruguay, Chile, Puerto Rico and Brazil.

The conference brought together a group of scholars in the field of ageing from across Latin America to

• share research with colleagues from Oxford and elsewhere,
• stimulate an interest in cross-national research in the region,
• establish and formalise a Latin American Research Network in Ageing (LARNA) that would develop collaborative research proposals with partners in the region and
• disseminate ageing research results from the region to a wider audience.

The themes of the 12 papers presented during the conference reflected the diversity of ageing research in the region while focusing on significant issues within and beyond the region such as health, intergenerational relationships, empowerment and migration (see  programme). However, there was limited cross-national research in ageing in the region – something the established network LARNA will seek to address. Of the 12 papers, nine were presented by (10) speakers from universities across the region (Uruguay, Peru, Brazil, Puerto Rico, Argentina, Chile and Mexico). Two academics based in the UK and one UK International Ageing NGO representative completed the speaker list.

The conference papers have been published, edited by  Dr George W; Leeson, in:
Ageing Horizons, Issue 9, 2010: Ageing in Latin American, the Caribbean and the Iberian Peninsula.

The conference provided a workshop platform to establish formally LARNA (Latin American Research Network on Ageing). The core group was finalised as the 10 Latin American conference speakers and Dr George W. Leeson from the Oxford Institute of Ageing. During this workshop, the network identified three areas, namely empowerment and citizenship, social identity in old age, and intergenerational relationships as three key areas for cross-national collaborative research. The national representatives of the core group membership will draw up a review paper of national research in each of the three areas and develop cross-national research proposals.

The 2nd LARNA Conference and Network Meeting has taken place in Mexico at the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM) in 6th-8th October 2010.