International conference "Mind Matters: Navigating Youth Mental Health Challenges, Best Practices, and Knowledge Sharing", 17 June 2025

HÉTFA organizes the MEET „Mind Matters: Navigating Youth Mental Health Challenges, Best Practices, and Knowledge Sharing” international conference on 17 June 2025

Supporting the mental well-being of young people is becoming an increasingly urgent challenge—especially for those from socially and economically vulnerable backgrounds. The international project MEET – Mental Well-Being in Education for Disadvantaged Youth[1], launched in the spring of 2025 with the support of the Interreg Danube Region Programme[2], seeks to address these pressing issues. The project brings together partners from Austria, Hungary, Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Moldova, Romania, Slovenia, Slovakia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia, and Ukraine, coordinated by the Vienna-based Centre for Social Innovation (ZSI)[3]. Zentrum für Soziale Innovation (ZSI).

The project aims to strengthen the capacities needed to support young people’s mental health in both formal and informal educational settings, focusing on three key areas:

Organizing professional Mental Health Labs focusing on youth mental health, involving healthcare and education professionals as well as young people themselves, as part of an international collection of best practices.
Developing and piloting inclusive, innovative, and youth-centered tools and educational materials for disadvantaged youth;
Facilitating policy cooperation and knowledge transfer across the countries of the Danube Region.

On June 17, 2025, the HÉTFA Research Institute will host the “Mind Matters: Navigating Youth Mental Health Challenges, Best Practices, and Knowledge Sharing” conference in Budapest. The event aims to present the framework of the MEET project, explore the challenges affecting youth mental health, and provide a platform for knowledge exchange among professionals from different countries.

The afternoon session of the conference will include:

Presentations by international and local experts focusing on youth mental health and available support mechanisms, illustrated with practical examples;
A roundtable discussion featuring healthcare and social professionals, as well as sociologists, on the interlinkages between mental health and social inequalities.

Venue and time: Európa Pont (1024 Budapest, Lövőház utca 35.), June 17, 2025, 12:30–17:00

The detailed programme of the conference is available here, and the registration platform can be accessed here.

[1] https://interreg-danube.eu/projects/meet

[2] https://interreg-danube.eu/

[3] https://www.zsi.at/en/home