Rogério Bordini, PhD student at ACI, Offenburg University of Applied Sciences, presents Noneliness App at European Commission event on loneliness interventions.

On 12 May 2022 the European Commission’s Joint Research Centre (JRC) held the Fairness Online Event, a workshop on interventions to reduce loneliness among youth. The workshop is part of a webinar series on fairness and related issues organized in the context of the Community of Practice on Fairness. The event brought academics, policymakers, stakeholders and practitioners working on loneliness to discuss possible interventions and initiatives to reduce this emotional distress among young adults across Europe.

Presentation of the Noneliness App and first research results

Rogério Bordini, PhD student in Human-Computer Interaction at the University of Applied Sciences Offenburg, was invited as one of the main speakers to present in the event his research about the Noneliness App. The Noneliness App is a gamified social platform he developed to reduce loneliness among students through easy online connection with members of the university community. Rogério Bordini presented the main results collected in a pilot randomized controlled trial conducted with Offenburg students in the beginning of 2022, which brought initial evidence on the app’s effectiveness at reducing loneliness.

COVID 19 and other influences on loneliness among young people

Among the speakers, Ms. Despo Sergiou, from the Commission’s Directorate General for Education and Culture, opened the event by presenting both an overview of how loneliness has affected young people in the EU before and during the COVID-19 pandemic and how the European Commission has dedicated efforts to research on the subject. Dr. Marlies Maes, Assistant Prof. at Youth Studies, Interdisciplinary Social Sciences (Utrecht University), shared her investigations on what research has been saying about loneliness among youth. And Mr. Pierre Atlan, responsible for EU and international affairs at the City of Pau (France), presented the anti-loneliness plan carried out in the City of Pau and the programme Pau Jeunes. The presentations were followed by discussion sessions on the initiatives presented.

The JRC team is extensively working on a mapping of loneliness interventions in the EU and evidence on effective procedures to reduce this burden. This mapping will also be included in a web platform on loneliness across the EU to be launched in 2023. 

More information about the Fairness Online Event and the JCR’s work on loneliness can be accessed at https://knowledge4policy.ec.europa.eu/projects-activities/loneliness-european-union_en