The CHILDLIFE Conference 2026 will explore the intersections of democracy, education, childhood, and diversity in a contested time. We aim to highlight these themes in the practical fields of education and the faculty of pedagogy, health, and social work related to children and youth. Additionally, the conference will address the faculty of research and the education of students/professionals.
We invite you to come and enjoy three professionally interesting days at our campus, right in the middle of Oslo city centre. Please save these conference dates for next year!
The conference is interdisciplinary and open to everyone who is interested in research on children and young people, their everyday lives and professional practices involving children (at preschool, school, health services, child welfare services and other welfare services).
As with the preceding CHILDLIFE conferences, the Fourth International Conference will cover a broad range of contemporary issues and perspectives concerning children and young people in everyday life and professional practices.
We hope to see you there!
The conference is hosted by the interdisciplinary research group “CHILDLIFE”, which is based at OsloMet.
Important dates
- 6 October, 2025: Call for papers
- 1 March, 2026: Deadline for submission of abstracts
- 15 April, 2026: Notification of acceptance
- April 2026: The conference opens for registration (more information will come)
Call for abstracts
Children and young people live diverse everyday lives. Like in the preceding conferences, the Fourth International Childlife Conference invites contributions covering a broad range of contemporary issues and perspectives concerning children and young people in everyday life and professional practices.
The 2026 Childlife Conference will explore the intersections of democracy, education, childhood, and diversity in a contested time. We aim to highlight these themes in the practical fields of education and the faculty of pedagogy, health, and social work related to children and youth. Additionally, the conference will address the faculty of research and the education of students/professionals.
We live in a time where research and educational institutions in some parts of the world are experiencing restrictions on their mandate to teach and do research on topics that contribute to knowledge about diversity and minority issues. Internationally, we are witnessing the governance of research content (and education) through the removal of words and concepts, and by reducing support for studies that promote tolerance for variation and diversity.
This raises several questions about the role of universities as educational institutions when democracy is under threat: How do we educate professionals to uphold values like diversity, citizenship, and democracy? How do different academic traditions emphasize democracy and diversity in general and for children and youth in particular?
What practices and understandings promote democratic processes for children and youth, and how are children and young people prepared to participate critically in society? What position do researchers hold in contested times? How can professionals work with children and youth to foster active participation in society? What happens when individuals and groups face uncertain prospects of citizenship? What are the current channels of influence for children and youth, and how do these affect their understanding of democracy?
Knowledge about how discriminatory processes related to diversity have evolved over time and impact the present is also crucial. Additionally, it is important to consider how contemporary influences shape our (children and youth's) perceptions of the future. These are central questions the conference will pay attention to.
We invite contributions like
- empirical studies on children and young people in everyday life: Social, cultural, health and material diversity and inequality in children/young people’s worlds around the globe
- empirical studies researching the relationship between childhood and democracy, providing perspectives for understanding diversity
- studies and theoretical perspectives on interrelated aspects of children, childhood and diversity
- theoretical perspectives and methodological approaches to exploration into children’s lives and into professional practices involving children and young people
- professional and interprofessional practices involving children, young people and their caregivers
- higher education within professional and interprofessional practices with children and young people
- the faculty of education, its role for social critique and knowledge about democracy related to childhood
Upload your abstract (nettskjema.no).
Deadline for submission: 1 March, 2026.
Invited keynote speakers
Maria Appel Nissen
Maria Appel Nilsen is a Professor of Social Work at Aalborg University (vbn.aau.dk).
Her research interest are on social work with children and families across diverse contexts. The aim of her research is to contribute to fundamental knowledge about social work and to inform social work practice. Her studies are often interdisciplinary and are developed in partnership with policymakers, practitioners, and people in vulnerable positions.
Janet Boddy
Janet Boddy is a Professor at University of Sussex (profiles.sussex.ac.uk), Head of School of Education and Social Work, and an Adjunct professor at NOVA, OsloMet.
Her research is concerned with family lives and services for children and families. She has an interest in methodology, particularly qualitative longitudinal and narrative approaches, cross-national research and research ethics and governance. She will talk about how researchers can pay attention to marginalized knowledges and work with own relative privileges.
Yani Hamdani
Yani Hamdani is PhD, OT Reg. (Ont.) Associate Professor, Occupational Science and Occupational Therapy and Rehabilitation Sciences Institute at the University of Toronto (oy.utoronto.ca) and Scientist at the Azrieli Adult Neurodevelopmental Centre, Centre for Addiction and Mental Health in Toronto, Canada.
Dr. Hamdani is an interdisciplinary researcher with combined training in rehabilitation, public health, critical social sciences, disability studies and qualitative methodologies. Her research program examines the health, wellness and social inclusion of people labeled with neurodevelopmental disorders. Shifts in how disability is understood and addressed in health and social care policies and practices are central in her research.
Jan Jaap Rothuizen
Jan Jaap Rothuizen is Ph.D., Docent (Professor of Professional Practice) at VIA University College, Denmark (ucviden.dk).
His academic background is in the field of general or philosophical pedagogy. His work focuses on understanding the practices of upbringing and education as inherently human and cultural phenomena, always intertwined with questions of value. Educational research inevitably engages both with empirical realities and with normative considerations of purpose. In times of social and political contestation, the question of what constitutes good education becomes especially pertinent.
