The 24th Annual Conference of Youth Studies will be held in Helsinki on 3–4 December 2026. Call for papers for the conference is now open. The keynote speeches will be held in Finnish, but there will be sessions available also in English.
The Diverse Everyday Lives of Young People
This year’s Annual Conference of Youth Studies invites all those interested in youth research to engage in discussion on the diversity of young people’s everyday lives and the various ways of approaching it. Everyday life will be examined from multidimensional and interdisciplinary perspectives, including questions such as: How do different environments – such as home, school, work, leisure activities, and digital communities – structure young people’s everyday lives? What characterizes young people’s everyday interactions and contexts of action on various online platforms and beyond? How do regional differences manifest in the conditions and forms of everyday life? What kinds of challenges and dimensions of inequality emerge in young people’s daily lives, and how can these be addressed? Which everyday phenomena have remained overlooked in youth research? The aim of the discussion is to identify the dimensions and boundary conditions of young people’s everyday lives, and to open up new perspectives for supporting everyday well-being.
Call for papers and posters
We are now inviting proposals for presentations for the working groups and posters. We welcome contributions related to the Conference’s theme and other current themes in youth studies. We also encourage presentations that highlight new approaches and methods within the field of youth studies. The presentations both in Finnish and in English are welcome. Please note that not all the sessions operate in English.
If you are unable to find a suitable working group, you can submit your abstract by selecting “Open group” and the organizers will either recommend a suitable group for your presentation or set up new working groups accordingly.
You may also propose a poster presentation. Please note that posters may only be presented during the coffee break on the first day.
Instructions and timetable
Please submit your abstract (max. 300 words) for your presentation or poster by August 31, 2026, via the online submission form (Visit an external site. The link opens in a new tab.).
Acceptance decisions will be sent by 15 September 2026 at the latest. Registration opens in September.
Keynote speakers
The keynote speakers at the Annual Conference of Youth Studies will be Professor Päivi Honkatukia (Tampere University, Youth Work and Youth Research) and Associate Professor Noora Pyyry (University of Helsinki, Department of Geosciences and Geography).
Organizers
The Annual Conference of Youth Studies 2026 is jointly organized by the Finnish Youth Research Society and the University of Helsinki’s disciplines of home economics (Faculty of Educational Sciences) and sociology (Faculty of Social Sciences).
