The International XI Conference on Childhood Studies brings together scholars around the theme of boundaries and boundarylessness in childhood research
20 September 2025
The International XI Conference on Childhood Studies brings together scholars around the theme of boundaries and boundarylessness in childhood research.
The XI Conference on Childhood Studies, Childhood and Boundaries, will be held on 6–8 May 2026 at the University of Eastern Finland in Joensuu. This internationally recognised conference is being organised for the eleventh time in Finland, and for the first time in Joensuu. The event is organised by the Finnish Society for Childhood Studies and the University of Eastern Finland, in collaboration with SOS Children’s Villages Finland and the national project Coordinating the participation and inclusion of children, young people and families.
The conference highlights the diverse boundaries of childhood and opens discussion on how multidisciplinarity and multiparadigmatic approaches can renew childhood research. The main aim is to bring together researchers from different fields, practitioners, and students. “This very diversity is what makes childhood studies a vibrant and timely field, capable of addressing the individual, communal and societal questions of childhood,” says Dr Elina Weckström, Chair of the Finnish Society for Childhood Studies.
A multidisciplinary meeting place
Childhood studies is multidisciplinary by nature. It transcends disciplinary boundaries and opens conversations between, for example, sociology, law, history, education, health sciences and the arts.
“The keynote presentations of the conference examine childhood in contemporary society from a very broad perspective. We will explore the theme of childhood and boundaries through questions of child migration, engage with methodological debates in childhood research, and hear how the digital, social, material and ecological dimensions intersect in contemporary childhood environments,” explains Associate Professor Noora Heiskanen, Chair of the Scientific Committee.
Multiparadigmatic approaches as a strength
The organisers emphasise that childhood studies brings together a range of research paradigms: qualitative and quantitative, ethnographic and statistical, empirical and theoretical, critical and practice-oriented. Researcher Anna Kristiina Kokko, who coordinates the conference together with Elina Weckström, elaborates:
“Childhood cannot be reduced to a single paradigm. Methodologically and theoretically, childhood connects multiple disciplines and approaches. This makes childhood studies a field where diverse research traditions can meet, collide and complement one another.”
The conference theme Childhood and Boundaries opens precisely these kinds of multiparadigmatic discussions: to what extent boundaries are defined socially or culturally, to what extent they are shaped by legislation or research ethics, and how childhood studies can conceptually and methodologically transcend these boundaries.
Research meets practice – and practice meets research
Childhood studies is closely connected to practice. Its multidisciplinarity is reflected in the participation of professionals from social work, education, healthcare, the arts and policy. These diverse perspectives enrich research and create genuine opportunities for cross-sector dialogue between researchers and professionals working with children and young people.
The conference programme includes, for example, a Finnish-language symposium for project actors, enabling the examination of development work alongside academic research. The organisers welcome participants from research, development work and fields related to child and family services. Policymakers and students are also warmly invited, says Dr Laura Ortju, Senior Advisor at the Finnish National Agency for Education and a member of the organising committee.
Children’s art in focus
The conference also highlights children’s perspectives through art. In collaboration with the Joensuu Children’s Culture Centre, the event will feature artwork created by children. Visual artists Tuija Hirvonen-Puhakka, Tiina Miettinen and Johanna Turunen will curate a community art exhibition where the works of children and young people open visual and experiential discussions on how they themselves perceive boundaries and their crossings. Children and young people will also be visible and audible in the conference’s accompanying programme. Participants will have the opportunity to enjoy performances by the Joensuu Conservatory’s string orchestra and the folk dance groups of Nuorisoseura Motora.