ARCTIC Research Centre for Children and Youth at Risk

The aim of the Arctic Research Center for Children and Youth at Risk is to create research that answers the positive question of what can be done to increase the well-being of children and youth. Children who grow up in families with scarce resources have a higher risk of experiencing a reduced quality of life, violence, abuse, poorer health, challenges at school and are more exposed to substance abuse and mental disorders later in life. Social inequalities among children and young people require action. We need more research in the field that can promote involvement, empowerment and participation for children and young people. The professional subjects of child protection and social work, teacher education and health and welfare education are central to being able to approach the issue in a holistic way. In the Arctic Research Center for Children and Youth at Risk, UiT the Arctic University of Norway, the Departments of Child welfare and Social work, Education and Pedagogy, and Health Care Sciences will collaborate on knowledge that provides better, more research-based educations and more effective services and offers. We also focus on innovation between researchers, professionals, service providers and users. We are concerned with how we can together create research that promotes a good quality of life and empowerment for vulnerable children and young people, and their families, in the north - across professional education - and will work on this in the years ahead. The Centre, with its interdisciplinary profile, will promote empowerment and user participation for the Norwegian and Sami children and young people concerned. The communication from the center will be aimed at children, young people and their families, user organizations, students and employees within the professional educations involved, practitioners and researchers. The activities in the center aim to promote the inclusion of more children and young people in education, work, and social life.

The 3 departments Child welfare and Social work, Education and Pedagogy, and Health Care Sciences at UiT, the Arctic University of Norway propose The Arctic Research Centre for Children and Youth at Risk. Collaboration with external research partners from Sweden & Finland, the practice field and user organizations in the region emphasizes a joint Nordic effort. Participating research communities in Europe, South Africa, Canada & USA strengthen the international scope. Increasing inequalities in Norwegian society continue to challenge the living conditions for children and adolescents (C&A), giving rise to a need for up-to-date educations, in the Arctic, that enhance research-informed professionalism and educare expertise, that serve to reduce vulnerability and improve C&A’s wellbeing. The Centre have 3 core values: (1) Responsible Innovation (2) Co-production (3) Meaningful Engagement. An interdisciplinary approach requires methodological inventiveness, which is achieved through (1) Participant collaboration (2) Interaction across traditional knowledge ‘boundaries’ (3) Facilitation of bridge-building activities that support impact in the North. The Arctic Research Centre has 6 work packages (WP), related to innovative interdisciplinary education and professional practice in social work & child welfare (WP1), education (WP2), in social work for Sami children and youth (WP3), school health services and public health nursing, and for service users participating in education and research (WP5). WP 6 is project management. The Centre seek to achieve positive impacts in 3 specific and critical areas: (1) demonstrate reductions in mental ill-health and substance misuse in the principal beneficiaries (2) to increase individual and collective feelings of ‘mattering’ which is a fundamental component of wellbeing (3) to build character strengths in children and youth at risk. The Centre will carry out activities that ensure the participation of Norwegian and Sami C&As.