From the children of today to the adults of tomorrow

Abstract

This address describes a process of maturation from three perspectives – first, the maturation of a researcher who has conducted a longitudinal study from middle childhood to middle adulthood; second, the maturation of the research participants; and third, the maturation of the present generation of children. To support the latter, knowledge on human development should be disseminated in many fields. Besides publications, other aims and means merit considerations. These include strengthening the value accorded to research-based knowledge, respect for expertise, social relevance of research, awareness of social context, and the channelling of information in novel ways, such as a scientifically authored open data bank that makes knowledge on human development available to everyone.