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Arctic Youth International Research Conference 1-2 June 2026

Illustrasjons-/bannerbilde for Arctic Youth International Research Conference 1-2 June 2026

The Arctic Youth Research Centre at UiT The Arctic University of Norway is pleased to announce an international conference to be held 1-2 June 2026.

The conference, titled "Youth and Democratic Processes: Interdisciplinary Perspectives on Inclusion, Mattering, and Well-being", aims to explore how young people in different countries and contexts can contribute to democratic processes to build societies that are inclusive, equitable, and sustainable. Recognising that democracy and democratic processes can take diverse forms depending on cultural, social, political, and economic factors, the conference explores challenges and opportunities of empowering youth to drive lasting and meaningful change through innovative processes. Both the conference and the accompanying anthology aim to provide a platform for critical reflection and interdisciplinary dialogue on how to strengthen youth participation in shaping the future of democracy. The relevance of this theme lies in its potential to highlight and promote effective practices that enhance youth engagement, inclusion, and well-being in democratic processes.

The conference will feature keynote invited speakers and workshops, in which participants will present their papers and receive constructive feedback. Following the workshops, contributions will be reviewed, and selected papers will be invited for inclusion in a forthcoming scientific anthology. The tentative title of the anthology is "Youth and Democratic Processes: Interdisciplinary Perspectives on Inclusion, Mattering, and Well-being".

Arctic Youth website: here.

Starter: 01.06.26 kl 09.00
Slutter: 02.06.26 kl 21.00

Hvor: SV- og HUM-bygget - B 1005 Auditorium

Sted: Tromsø

Målgruppe: Ansatte, Studenter, Gjester / eksterne, Inviterte

Kontakt: Louis Waterman Quist

E-post: louis.d.waterman.quist@uit.no

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Foredragsholdere

Fiona Dyer

Professor

Professor & Director Children and Young People's Centre for Justice, University of Strathclyde, Scotland.

Fiona Dyer

Professor

As Director, Fiona leads CYCJ towards its ambition of ensuring that Scotland’s approach to children and young people in conflict with the law is rights-respecting, contributing to better outcomes for children, young people and communities. This involves supporting professionals from all disciplines who work with children and young people on the cusp of or involved in offending by promoting best practice based on up-to-date evidence and research. Her aim is to provide leadership across all sectors where children are involved to ensure children are treated as children. Her work to date includes representation on many expert groups and boards examining children’s rights and youth justice issues. She has written several publications in this area.

Prior to joining CYCJ, Fiona worked as a social worker within the fields of youth and criminal justice and was seconded to the Scottish Government for three years as a professional advisor within youth justice.

More info here.

Tony Ghaye

Professor

Professor of Sports Business & Leadership at Loughborough University London, England; Director for Global Human Rights & Wellbeing Project "U MATTER".

Tone Rasmussen

Region North Leader

Save the Children, Norway

Srividya Iyer

Professor

Professor of Psychiatry, McGill University, Canada.

Srividya Iyer

Professor

Srividya holds the Canada Research Chair in Youth, Mental Health and Learning Health Systems (Tier 1). She is a Professor in the Department of Psychiatry and an Associate Member in the Department of Epidemiology, Biostatistics and Occupational Health at McGill University in Montreal, Canada. She is a licensed psychologist and a Researcher at the Douglas Mental Health University Institute. She is a member of McGill’s Division of Social and Transcultural Psychiatry, its Global Mental Health Program and its Indigenous Special Interest Group. Srividya is part of the steering committee for the Multicultural Mental Health Resource Centre.

Her work focuses on youth mental health and early intervention, including for serious mental health problems such as psychosis www.srividyaiyer.com/. She seeks to ensure that more young people worldwide have timely access to appropriate, youth-friendly mental healthcare and enjoy well-being and social participation. Srividya works closely with young people, families, and health, community and government partners to influence practice and policy in Canada and globally. She leads ACCESS Open Minds, a pan-Canadian network of youth, families, service providers and policymakers across 16 sites serving urban, rural, Indigenous, post-secondary and homeless youths across Canada.

Srividya is also a research leader in Aire ouverte, Quebec’s integrated youth services initiative. Working with Dr. Chris Mushquash and many Indigenous young people, leaders and communities across Canada, she co-leads a pan-Canadian Indigenous integrated youth services network that draws on ACCESS Open Minds’ Indigenous Council. Srividya significantly contributes to various mental health capacity building and research projects globally, including in India (where she was born), Nigeria and Bangladesh. As a psychologist, Srividya has assessment and treatment experience in India, the United States, and Canada.

Srividya’s program of research reflects her interests in using multiple quantitative, qualitative and mixed methods; engaging diverse stakeholders, particularly youth and family service users; implementation science; integrated knowledge translation; interdisciplinary work; and building sustainable, collaborative capacity within community contexts.

In 2023, Srividya won the prestigious Royal-Mach-Gaensslen Prize for Mental Health Research, a national prize awarded each year to one outstanding rising star researcher in the field of mental health. Earlier, she was inducted into the Royal Society of Canada’s College of New Scholars, Artists and Scientists and named on the inaugural list of Canadian Women leaders in Global Health. Srividya has received numerous other awards, including McGill’s Principal Prize for Outstanding Emerging Researchers and the Maude Abbott Prize for outstanding female faculty. In 2021, she was elected Vice President of the International Association for Youth Mental Health and nominated Champion (Research) by the Canadian Alliance on Mental Illness and Mental Health.

Srividya enjoys mentoring undergraduate and graduate students, post-doctoral fellows, research associates, research-track residents and other trainees. Click here to know more training and mentoring with Srividya and the Youth Mental Health Collective.

Carmel Cefai

Professor

Professor of Psychology & Director of the Centre for Resilience and Socio-Emotional Health, University of Malta, Malta

Carmel Cefai

Professor

Carmel Cefai PhD, FBPS, is the Director of the Centre for Resilience and Socio-Emotional Health, and Professor at the Department of Psychology, at the University of Malta. He is Head of the WHO Collaborating Centre on the Promotion of Mental Health in Schools, founding editor of the International Journal of Emotional Education, expert member of the European Commission Network of Experts on Social Aspects of Education and Training, and member of the Managing Board of the European Network for Social and Emotional Competence. He has led various local, national, European and international research projects in social and emotional learning, resilience and wellbeing in children and young people, with a particular focus on schools. He has published extensively with numerous books, research reports, journal papers and book chapters, including EU and UNESCO publications, with a particular focus on children’s and young persons’ wellbeing, resilience and mental health.

More info here.