Feeling You(th). Mental State of the Youth: an inspirational moment

On September 18, 2024, the P&V Foundation organized an inspirational moment around the crucial theme of youth mental health in Brussels. This event brought together researchers, young people, and field workers to discuss the challenges and opportunities related to the mental well-being of younger generations. It is part of our multi-year project Feeling You(th), an initiative for the period 2024-2026, aimed at deepening our understanding of youth mental well-being and proposing concrete solutions to improve it.

Project Background

Every three years, the P&V Foundation launches multi-year projects based on rigorous scientific research and attentive listening to young people. Our project Feeling You(th) focuses on the mental health of young people, an increasingly urgent issue. From June to September 2024, we launched a call for projects aimed at improving the mental health of young people.

The event “Mental State of the Youth” allowed participants to better understand the issues related to youth mental health and to engage in discussions about it, as well as to inspire project leaders and others in implementing actions.

Event Program

Plenary Session

Introduction to Feeling You(th) by the P&V Foundation

Who are we, what is our mission and working method, how do we involve researchers and young people in our projects, and why do we focus on youth mental health?

Context of youth mental well-being by our presidents Jessy Siongers (VUB/UGent) & Olivier Servais (UCLouvain)

What do we mean by youth mental well-being, what is the situation in Belgium compared to other countries, and what important points of attention do we identify?

Inspiring initiatives were presented

Inspiration from abroad: Young Xperts Rotterdam 

YoungXperts is an initiative of the SYNC lab, a research group from Erasmus University Rotterdam. Kitty de Vries and Ethell Dubois explained how they actively involve young people in their research and in the implementation of actions based on this research. They have also conducted various participatory studies on youth mental well-being.

Inspiration from youth: Forum des Jeunes (Fédération Bruxelles-Wallonie)

The Forum des Jeunes is the official spokesperson for French-speaking Belgian youth aged 16 to 30. They regularly organize consultations on issues concerning young people, gather the results in the form of official advice, and present them to policymakers. They also collect a lot of information on youth mental well-being.

Inspiration from the field: Centre de Prévention du Suicide

The Centre de Prévention du Suicide works to prevent suicide at various key moments in life. They shared their findings on trends in the increasing number of young people seeking psychological support, as well as an analysis of their demographic data.

Interactive discussions

The second part was dedicated to interactive discussions between researchers, young people, and the public on various aspects of youth mental health, such as stigma and diversity, social interactions, sports, and social media…

With researchers Lies Saelens (UGent), Robin Achterhof (KU Leuven and Erasmus University Rotterdam), Arnaud Philippot (UCLouvain and KU Leuven), Pascal Minotte (Centre de Référence…), as well as young people involved in the design and jury of Feeling You(th).

Networking Drink

Finally, participants could continue their exchanges informally during a networking drink, with the opportunity to ask questions to the P&V Foundation team.