On 22 April 2026, the North Rhine-Westphalian Academy of Sciences, Humanities and the Arts held a symposium on loneliness in Düsseldorf. The event was initiated by NRW Minister President Hendrik Wüst, one of the two patrons of LONELY-EU. He took part in person, together with Minister of Science Ina Brandes.
LONELY-EU coordinator Prof. Dr. Maike Luhmann of Ruhr University Bochum gave one of the keynote speeches, titled “Why loneliness concerns us all”.
She argued that the consequences of loneliness are felt by everyone, including people who are not lonely themselves. Loneliness can only be tackled effectively if all parts of society take part. That includes politics, science, education, companies, churches and other religious communities, health care, welfare associations, and each of us as private individuals.
The basis for this, she said, is better networking between all these institutions and stakeholders, in North Rhine-Westphalia, in Germany, and internationally. LONELY-EU is already working on building such links at the European level.
