LAUSR

We write this as the 2019 conference comes to an end. This year the conference theme was ‘Cross-cultural perspectives on ethics, healthy ageing and care’. We had participants from 18 countries and much interesting discussion on topics such as moral courage, technology in care, codes and regulation, conscientious objection and ethical competence. We also had the annual meeting of the journal’s Editorial Board and discussed our progress, current challenges and future developments. Here we announce a future special issue on the conference theme. Professor Jing-Bao Nie was the first keynote speaker, joining the conference by Zoom from New Zealand. He approached the overall conference theme through the lens of Confucian philosophy. The idea of a ‘moral pilgrimage’ and the distinctive Eastern value of ‘filial piety’ were central to his discussion of ethics and family and state responsibilities to respect elders and to fulfil their care needs. As Professor Nie explained, ‘filial piety’ is underpinned by Confucian ethics and challenged by societal and economic developments. His explanation of demographic changes, the impact of the one child policy, migration to cities and high suicide rates of elders in rural China made for a bleak elder care landscape. More general challenges of elder care are not unique to China. Professor Nie’s philosophical perspective, rooted in classical Confucianism, provided a positive response to these challenges. His paper will be published in Nursing Ethics in due course. It has been pointed out that ‘it took hundreds of thousands of years for the world population to grow to one billion’ and in just two centuries it had grown sevenfold now exceeding over 7 billion people. Over 10 years ago, Wray described the situation starkly: