Professor Dexter Da Silva of Keisen University, Japan, has joined The 12th Asian Conference Education & International Development (ACEID2026) on the panel for ‘Longevity, Happiness, and the Art of Community: Lessons from Japan and Beyond’.
Professor Da Silva will join Mr Héctor García, an author based in Japan, Dr Yukiko Sawano of the University of the Sacred Heart, Japan, and Mr Lowell Sheppard of Never Too Late Academy, Japan to share their expertise and insights on community-building practices within ageing cultures in Japan and beyond.
To participate in ACEID/ACP/AGen2026 as an audience member, please register for the conference via the conference website.
The panel presentation will also be available for IAFOR Members to view online as part of their membership benefits. To find out more, please visit the IAFOR Membership page.
Speaker Biography
Dexter Da Silva
Keisen University, Japan
Professor Dexter Da Silva is Professor Emeritus at Keisen University in Tokyo, Japan, where he has been teaching for 35 years. He is an Educational Psychologist who has taught at junior high school, language schools, and universities in Sydney, Australia, and at various educational institutions in Japan. He was educated at the University of Sydney, Australia (BA, Dip. Ed., MA), and the University of Western Sydney, Australia (PhD). He has presented and co-presented at conferences throughout Asia, Australia, Europe, and the United States, and published or co-published a number of books, articles, and book chapters on education-related topics. He is a past president of the Asian Psychological Association and currently a Vice-President of IAFOR. As an Educational Psychologist, he is very interested in how Artificial Intelligence will continue to be incorporated into and impact research and theory on the nature, types, and uniqueness of Human Intelligence(s).
Abstract
Longevity, Happiness, and the Art of Community: Lessons from Japan and Beyond
As Asia and the wider world confront rapidly aging populations, a pressing interdisciplinary question emerges: What makes life not only long, but happy, connected, and meaningful in its later stages? This group of distinguished panellists will share their perspectives on how community environments shape emotional well-being, psychological resilience, and functional independence well into advanced age. Drawing on research centred in Japan’s super-aging society, the panel explores how community-driven structures such as moai (模合) groups, neighbourhood support networks, exercise rituals, festivals, and intergenerational spaces directly contribute to late-life happiness. And how education, in the form of continued learning, teaching, mentoring, and curiosity, can help sustain life-long purpose and emotional and mental vitality.
The discussion will highlight the interplay between psychology, behaviour, purpose, and social connection. The panellists will show how these factors collectively influence a healthy lifespan by integrating perspectives from gerontology, psychology, behavioural science, education, and development studies. The session will offer insights into why older adults thrive in environments where belonging is strong, relationships are deep, and lifelong learning is encouraged, and how purpose and social identity protect against loneliness and cognitive decline. The panel will specifically discuss how lessons from Japan can inform policy, community design, education, and behavioural interventions across cultures, where long life is lived richly.
