Can adolescents be gamechangers for 21st century societal challenges? From October 8 to 10, a diverse group of scientists, practitioners, creatives, and youth representatives gathered for the Healthy Start Transformative Research Meeting (www.rethinkingdevelopment.nl) at Het Meisjeshuis in Delft to think about this question.

Day 1: Rethinking adolescent development

Arwin van Buuren, Impact Dean at Erasmus University Rotterdam, kicked off this meeting by highlighting the importance of integrating different types of (practical) knowledge, to embrace humility, and build coalitions with stakeholders to create impact and engagement. Next, keynote talks by Ron Dahl (University of California Berkeley) and Sarah-Jayne Blakemore (Cambridge University) inspired thinking about inflection points in adolescent development as opportunities for societal engagement. We concluded the first day with interactive and creative activities to define the big questions and exciting talks that highlighted how we can involve youth in answering these.

Day 2: Behavioral and neural developmental of societally relevant skills

The second day consisted of a series of talks that highlighted how adolescents develop societally relevant skills and what kind of support they may need from the environment. Milene Goncalves (TU Delft) and Susanna Osinga (Erasmus University Rotterdam) provided a crash course in design practices: How can we solve challenges and problems in an integrative, iterative and future oriented way, together with youth? After a scenic lunch walk through the city of Delft, we were treated to a pilot theatre show by TIME OUT that allowed us to experience the power of recorded delivery for experiential learning and perspective taking. We ended the day with a keynote talk by Sander Thomaes (Utrecht University) that zoomed in on how adolescents engage with one of today’s most pressing societal challenges: climate change. In the evening, we enjoyed a conference dinner at De Centrale.

Day 3: Towards a future perspective

The final day started with a joint breakfast, followed by a series of talks on the challenges and opportunities of technologies such as social media and AI for youths’ societal engagement. In the afternoon, a keynote talk by Bert Bakker (University of Amsterdam) stimulated thinking about how adolescents may engage in politics (and polarization) to deal with the societal they face. We ended the day with a keynote talk by Eveline Crone (Erasmus University Rotterdam) to reflect on how we can move from knowledge to action. Youth undergo formative changes—how can they leverage these to become an engaged citizen in society? We interactively shaped a future agenda and concluded these inspiring days with farewell drinks at De Wijnhaven.

What’s next?

This meeting was filled with inspiring talks and commentaries, creative and interactive intermezzos, and perhaps most importantly space for genuine exchange and connection. This Healthy Start Transformative Research Meeting clearly demonstrated the power of bringing together passionate people from different countries, disciplines, and professions who share a common goal: shaping a healthier start for the next generation. And this is only the beginning—we are excited to keep building on the ideas and collaborations that emerged during these inspiring days.

Listen to our podcast!

During the meeting, we recorded a podcast with some of our guests and adolescents to spread the message. The first episode for this podcast is already available on Spotify. Stay tuned for more episodes!

This meeting was organized by Lysanne te Brinke, Eveline Crone, Ron Dahl, Suzanne van de Groep and Judith van de Wetering and made possible by the Healthy Start-Convergence program and the Sector Plan Youth Resilience from Erasmus University Rotterdam.