Events

EVENTS / PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT / RESULTS / NETWORKING / NEWS

On this page, you can find the upcoming CHAT-YOUTH events and how to partake in them. Consider joining our upcoming Community of Practice meetings to learn and connect with other people on the field of youth work. On this page you will find that we are also organizing open for all upcoming webinars to spread expertise and to help facilitate discussions on the field of youth mental health. For more information on the past events go to Professional Development page or read the brief descriptions here. If you have any questions about the events, do not hesitate to contact us at chat-youth@youthresearch.fi.

UPCOMING NETWORKING AND COMMUNITY OF PRACTICE MEETINGS

We focus on building a network of chat-related stakeholders, be it counselors, youth themselves, researchers or board members of chat-organizations. With this growing network we plan to organize six Community of Practice meetings, in which we want to enable European exchange of information about best practices and shortcomings in online chat counseling services for youth. The first Community of Practice meetings have been succesful and left us with much more to talk about.

The next Community of Practice meeting

The reporting systems – Tuesday September 16th, 2025 (11-12u30 CET)

CHAT-YOUTH project is organizing its sixth Community of Practice meeting on Tuesday 16th of September 11:00-12:30 CET via Teams. The theme of this CoP is the reporting systems of the chat services. In the meeting we will discuss and learn from each other about the reporting systems that the chat services use to gather information about their own way of operation and the service users. Sign up through this LINK (Visit an external site. The link opens in a new tab.).

The agenda of the sixth CoP Meeting:

Introduction to the topic of the day. Short presentation about the questionnaire we have conducted and the reporting systems by Tuuli Pitkänen and Siiri Soininvaara from Finnish Youth Research Society. (15-20 min)

After the presentation, we will set up discussions in break-out rooms. We are curious to know what your perspectives and experiences about the reporting systems are. (45 min.) The questions will be distributed at a later time.

Following the discussions, we will gather to compare the experiences of the break-out rooms. (20min)

We are currently conducting a survey on the reporting systems of the chat services. If you work with a chat service, we would kindly ask you to answer a short survey about the reporting system before the Community of Practice meeting HERE (Visit an external site. The link opens in a new tab.).

The survey will take approximately 5 minutes and can be answered in English, Dutch, Hungarian, Spanish and Finnish. This anonymous information is used to conduct research into the best practices of the reporting systems.

UPCOMING WEBINARS

Next to these CoP meetings we will also organize webinars on f.e. training of counselors. Specific dates are not picked yet, but the timeframes in which they will happen are listed below. Finally, we will also organize a Stakeholder symposium in Ghent (Belgium) on the 22^nd and 23th of May in 2025. More information on Ghent meeting can be found above.

Webinar 3: November/December 2025

If you wish to learn more about the CoPs or the webinars, feel free to contact Elke Denayer (elke.denayer@ugent.be) with any questions or suggestions.

Dissemination aims to contribute to improving OCCS, and eventually support youth in need as well as youth work, research and policy making.

PAST EVENTS

Past Community of Practice meetings:

The first Community of Practice meeting on the 14th of March 2024 was about exchanging information and expertise. We gave a short update about the CHAT-YOUTH project and heard a presentation about a Finnish chat service.

The second Community of Practice meeting on the 18th of June 2024 was about artificial intelligence and how artificial intelligence can be used in chat services. Before we heard a presentation about AI, we gave a short update about the project. During the discussions participant shared their ideas and thoughts about using AI in the chat services.

The third Community of Practice meeting on the 1st of October 2024 was about suicidality as a phenomenon in the OCCS’s and how counselors should approach the topic.

The fourth Community of Practice meeting on the 11th of February 2025 focused around the training of the counsellors and volunteers. The meeting contained presentations from organizations with OCCS’s around Europe that exhibited their approaches towards the topic.

The fifth Community of Practice meeting on the 17th of June 2025 focused on finding consesnus of the pressing issues of the chat services today. The attendees discussed various themes in smaller groups and took notes on their stances on difficult topics.

Past webinars:

Webinar 1: 14th of January 2025: Artificial Intelligence

The sessions addressed ethical challenges, such as transparency, fairness, and the balance between technology and human connection, as we consider the implications of integrating AI into sensitive areas like mental health.

Watch the recordings of the webinar here (Visit an external site. The link opens in a new tab.).

Webinar 2: 22nd of May 2025: Shaping the Future of Digital Wellbeing and Online Support

The recording coming soon.

Symposiums:

Kick-off meeting for CHAT-YOUTH partners and experts in Madrid
The hybrid kick-off meeting was arranged on Thursday the 25th of January 2024 in Madrid, Spain.

Helsinki symposium Research and Practice

Helsinki CHAT-YOUTH meeting took place on Thursday 22nd of August 2024 at Tieteiden Talo in Helsinki, Finland.

Ghent symposium Shaping the Future of Digital Wellbeing and Online Support

Ghent symposium took place on Thursday the 22^nd of May 2025 in De Krook in Ghent, Belgium.

Other events:

CHAT-YOUTH arranged a thematic working group called Do chat services for youth build hope? at the XXII Annual Conference of Youth Studies on 8–9th November 2023 in Helsinki, Finland.

NYRIS 16th Nordic Youth Research Symposium (Visit an external site. The link opens in a new tab.) June 12-14th, 2024, Tampere, Finland. CHAT-YOUT arranged the thematic working group number 11. CHAT-services as Crisis help and Assistance for youth during challenging Times.

Project team

Alexis Dewaele, Lien Goossens and Elke Denayer, Universiteit Gent, Belgium
Maria Cabello Salmerón and Irati Higuera Lozano, La Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, Spain
Katalin Felvinczi, Zsuza Kaló and Mónika Rényi, Eötvös Loránd University, Hungary
Tuuli Pitkänen, Siiri Soininvaara, Finnish Youth Research Society, Finland