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The ageing of the population is a contemporary phenomenon, but its
foundations were laid decades ago. Changing age structures and the
consequent demographic ageing has only recently become the subject of
theoretical (re)consideration, since the theory of demographic transition
only values fertility and mortality trajectories. The emergence of ?new?
demography takes into account the momentum created by the previous trends
in population dynamics and explains the future rejuvenation or ageing of
the population. The importance of inherited age structure can be illustrated
using an approach that represents distorted cohort flows, showing that baby
booms and baby busts can play a crucial role in the future ageing of the
population. While in the past it was fertility that predominantly affected
age structure, recent research has revealed that changes in life expectancy
are becoming a more prominent factor in shaping expected population ageing
trends. The general theory of population ageing would have to consider the
possible compression of morbidity, dynamic equilibrium, or the expansion of
morbidity, since the future course of (healthy) life expectancy is
determining the scope of the old and fragile population. The status of
theory in demography has long been problematic, since the ?grandiose? theory
of demographic transition had to be reevaluated. Modern approaches apply
more flexible theoretical frameworks to explain contemporary demographic
changes and provide a conceptual background. As such, the important
paradigm for the demography of ageing should be the prospective paradigm,
which uses information about the longevity of the population and transposes
it to population ageing research. The theory of population metabolism seems
to adequately define why population ageing is important for cohorts and
generation change, especially in cases where distorted cohort flows create
prominent cohort oscillation. The need to create adequate policies for
changing age composition morphology is highlighted in the domain of
institutional adaptation, where the concept of population balance can
provide the appropriate framework. Also, as life events tend to take place
more often at certain points in the life cycle - for example during
adulthood and entering old age - the idea of population densities should be
further explored.

One of the most important paradigms that emerged in demographic literature
when it comes to mitigation of the population ageing in developed world is
the concept of active ageing. At the core of this approach is the idea that
elderly population is a very important and resourceful segment of a society
because of their large experience in different fields that can contribute to
the welfare of all. However, there are still no empirical studies of the
population such as pensioners that can contribute the most. Even though
elderly pensioners are economically inactive, they have a considerable spare
time and non-negligible financial assets. In order to empirically enlighten
the practice of active ageing in Serbia, we conducted a survey based on the
questionnaire from Special Eurobarometer Report 378 dealing with issues of
active ageing in Europe. We chose as the target population (already active)
participants of the Sixth Olympiad of Sport, Health and Culture for the Third
Age held in Vrnjacka Banja. As a result, we got comprehensive responses to a
variety of questions, which could be used as guidelines on how to achieve
active aging. Additionally, collected evidences of different attitudes of the
active elderly towards family, young generations, work, pension, and the like
are elaborated.