Team Childhood and Youth wants to contribute to groundbreaking research that explores how community shapes children and young people's lives, identity and participation. Team Childhood and Youth represents a broad and interdisciplinary approach to children and young people's living conditions. They combine insights from pedagogy, psychology, health, technology, design, and social sciences. Overall, we want to contribute to the development of measures and practices that strengthen children's and young people's experience of community. Furthermore, the team is concerned with how we can contribute to increased understanding of what promotes or inhibits inclusion, and a fairer and more sustainable society where all children and young people have the opportunity to have a good upbringing. Our interdisciplinary approach combines insights from many different academic communities across five faculties and eight departments.

• Department of Mental Health (MH)
• Department of Education and Lifelong Learning (SU)
• Department of Teacher Education (SU) Department of Psychology (SU)
• Department of Public Health and Nursing (MH)
• Department of Design (AD)
• Department of Interdisciplinary Studies of Culture (HF)
• Department of Computer Technology and Infomratics (IE)

We have three underlying focus areas:

1. Growing Together: Youth, Inclusion, and the Strength of Community (Led by Anne Berit Emstad)

Focus Areas:

• Prevent marginalisation and drop-out in education.
• Promote inclusion through interdisciplinary research on childhood, education and health.
• Develop tailored interventions for students with different needs, including high-achieving students.
• Explore kindergartens and schools as community-based institutions.
• Use design and technology to create inclusive solutions.

Significance for children and young people: By combining insights from pedagogy, health, technology and design, the team contributes to developing inclusive learning environments and community arenas that strengthen children and young people's sense of belonging and participation.

2. ChildEquity – Research on Childhood, Equity, and Wellbeing (Led by Veronika Paulsen)

Focus Areas:

• Understand and reduce the risk of marginalisation among children and young people.
• Investigate how social inequalities and welfare systems affect children's lives.
• Develop knowledge about children in low-income families and children in contact with child welfare services.

• Promote social sustainability and equity through research on child development and health.

Significance for children and young people: By focusing on children in vulnerable situations and how the welfare system can be improved, the team helps to ensure that no child is left behind – and that everyone has the opportunity to participate in the community.

3. FELLE-Z – Research on community among "generation Z" (Led by Daniel Schofield)

Focus Areas:

• Explore how digital media affects children's and young people's social communities.
• Examine exclusion and belonging in digital arenas.
• Look at how children and young people participate in political and social communities online.
• Increase digital and AI competence among children and young people.

Significance for children and young people: By understanding how digital platforms can both include and exclude, the team provides insights that can be used to strengthen children's and young people's digital safety, participation and sense of community.