Dr. Rami Saad (p), May Mantzur, Prof. Boris A. Portnov

The proper selection of a suitable school site is critical to ensure accessibility, social equity, and alignment with general sustainability objectives. This study uses the Spatial Navigation, Analysis, & Identification of Location (SNAIL) approach to analyse alternative sites for a new school and select the best one. The approach is a multicriteria framework that integrates geographic, environmental, and socioeconomic variables relevant to the placement of an educational facility. The analysis focuses on high schools in Karmiel, a medium-sized city in northern Israel. The findings of the study demonstrate that the SNAIL model helps identify a preferred location for a new school among several available alternatives, jointly considering accessibility, environmental quality, and societal equity, while providing a systematic and transparent assessment of available school sites.

Dr. Anita Makowska (p)

The European housing crisis is increasingly becoming a driver of intergenerational inequality. As demographic shifts reshape the continent, the "housing gap" manifests differently across various age cohorts. This research provides a comparative analysis of housing accessibility and affordability for young adults (aged 18–34) versus the older population (65+). By examining the "Housing Cost Overburden Rate" and the "average age of leaving the parental household" across different European welfare regimes, the study identifies a growing divergence in housing security. While older generations often benefit from high homeownership rates and lower housing costs, younger cohorts are relegated to an increasingly expensive and precarious private rental sector. The results indicate that the housing gap acts as a demographic bottleneck, delaying family formation and labour mobility. The paper argues for a generational lens in housing policy to address the disproportionate burden carried by younger citizens in the face of structural housing shortages.

Dr. Javier Lera (p), Dra Marina Barreda, Prof Dr David Cantarero

Background. Population ageing raises concerns about emotional well-being in later life, particularly loneliness and depressive symptoms. Digital connectivity and social integration may act as protective resources, but their associations can differ across older age groups. This study examines how recent internet use and levels of social integration relate to loneliness and clinically relevant depressive symptomatology among older adults.
Methods. We use the SHARE survey and analyse older adults wellbeing in three age groups (65–70, 71–80, and 80+). Emotional distress is measured through (i) depressive symptoms using EURO-D (EURO-D ≥ 4) and (ii) self-reported loneliness (binary). Logistic regressions are estimated separately by age group, reporting odds ratios (OR) with robust standard errors and 95% confidence intervals. Models adjust for gender, household income (log), and multimorbidity (≥2 chronic conditions), and include a four-level social integration index.
Results. In the analytical sample (≈65,000–69,000 observations depending on variable availability), 27.4% meet the EURO-D threshold for depressive symptoms and 47.5% report loneliness. Not using the internet in the last 7 days is associated with higher odds of depression, with stronger associations at older ages: OR=1.17 (65–70), OR=1.54 (71–80), and OR=1.43 (80+). For loneliness, non-use of the internet is also associated with higher odds: OR=1.26 (65–70), OR=1.15 (71–80), and OR=1.15 (80+).
Social integration shows a strong gradient: compared with the lowest integration group, the highest integration level (4) is associated with substantially lower odds of loneliness—OR=0.38 (65–70), OR=0.38 (71–80), OR=0.33 (80+). For depression, higher integration is also protective (e.g., integration level 3: OR=0.65, 0.64, 0.53 across age groups). Multimorbidity is consistently associated with higher emotional distress (depression OR ≈ 2.11–2.29; loneliness OR ≈ 1.42–1.44).
Conclusions. Results indicate that both digital connectivity and social integration are robustly associated with lower emotional distress in later life, with particularly strong protective gradients for social integration and age-differentiated associations for internet use. Policies aimed at reducing the digital divide and strengthening meaningful social participation may contribute to healthier and more emotionally active ageing, especially among the oldest old and those with high morbidity burden.