Hi all,
Thank you for the great network meeting in Malmö this week! It gave a lot of power for the winter.
Our Finnish social work delegation would like to advertise a webinar<https://www.helsinki.fi/en/networks/lgbtqi-research-social-work/news/welcom…> on LGBTQI+ research in social work on 5th of December. The research webinar offers an opportunity to hear about and discuss current social work LGBTQI+ research in the Finnish context. In the webinar, researchers will present completed or ongoing research connected to themes of social work and LGBTQI+ issues. There will be time for discussion and comments throughout the presentations. Please register for the webinar by December 4th, 2025 through this link: Ilmoittautuminen // Registration – Täytä lomake<https://forms.cloud.microsoft/e/rNWbNw0zq6> The participation link will be sent to registered participants. The webinar will be held bilingually in English and Finnish.
Research webinar presentations:
Rethinking recognition: Diversity-Centered Social Work
Emilia Brusila, University of Lapland
Attitudes and Knowledge Needs of Social Work Students in Relation to Sexual and Gender Diversity
Ilo Söderström and Kris Clarke, University of Helsinki
Trans youth and (in)visibility
Joa Hiitola and Valtteri Vähä-Savo, Tampere University
The webinar is organized by SosQ - The Finnish Network for LGBTQI+ Research in Social Work, which is a newly founded network where many of us are involved. If you want to keep updated about the LGBTQI+ research in social work in Finland, you can sign up for the SosQ email list by sending email to me (ilo.soderstrom(a)helsinki.fi<mailto:ilo.soderstrom@helsinki.fi>). 😊
SosQ network webpage: LGBTQI+ research in social work | University of Helsinki<https://www.helsinki.fi/en/networks/lgbtqi-research-social-work>
Best regards, Ilo Söderström
Ilo Söderström
DSocSci, Visiting researcher
Social work
Faculty of social sciences
University of Helsinki
Sosiaalityön sateenkaaritutkimuksen verkosto SosQ<https://www.helsinki.fi/fi/verkostot/sosiaalityon-sateenkaaritutkimus/ajank…>
AFFIRM-ED – Oppimateriaali seksuaalisuuden ja sukupuolen moninaisuudesta sote-alalle (2025–2026) <https://blogs.helsinki.fi/affirmed-nordic-lgbtqia/>
Hi all,
This call might be of interest to someone, see below
All the best, Lena
Lena Sotevik<https://www.su.se/profiles/leso7478-1.811611>
Postdok genusvetenskap
Institutionen för etnologi, religionshistoria och genusvetenskap
Stockholms universitet
From: Eleanor Wilkinson <eleanor.wilkinson(a)sheffield.ac.uk>
Sent: den 26 november 2025 10:12
To: Ott Ad <ad.ott(a)hevs.ch>; Carri Christiane <christiane.carri(a)hevs.ch>; Malena Gustavsson <malena.gustavson(a)gender.su.se>; Lena Sotevik <lena.sotevik(a)gender.su.se>; Airi-Alina Allaste <alina67(a)tlu.ee>; Anna Ivanova <a1vanova(a)tlu.ee>; Ames Clark <ames.clark(a)sheffield.ac.uk>; Rimoldi Elena <elena.rimoldi(a)hevs.ch>; Justyna Struzik <justyna.struzik(a)uj.edu.pl>; Anna Bednarczyk <anna.bednarczyk(a)uj.edu.pl>; elisa.raichmann(a)tlu.ee
Subject: Call for abstracts: ‘Social justice and the crisis of LGBTQI+ young people’s mental health’ (ESHMS Conference, Hamburg, August 2026)
Dear all,
Please could you share the below call for abstracts around any potentially interested people / networks / mailing lists / or via any of your professional social media accounts?
Thanks!
Eleanor
——
Call for abstracts: ‘Social justice and the crisis of LGBTQI+ young people’s mental health’ (ESHMS Conference, Hamburg, August 2026)
21st Biennial European Society of Health and Medical Sociology Conference: “Mental Health in Times of Uncertainty”
19th August – 21st August 2026, Hamburg, Germany; www.uke.de/eshms2026<http://www.uke.de/eshms2026>
Submission deadline February 15th, 2026
Session convenors:
Professor Elizabeth McDermott, School of Social Policy, University of Birmingham, UK e.mcdermott.1(a)bham.ac.uk<mailto:e.mcdermott.1@bham.ac.uk> and Dr Eleanor Wilkinson, School of Geography & Planning, University of Sheffield, UK eleanor.wilkinson(a)sheffield.ac.uk<mailto:eleanor.wilkinson@sheffield.ac.uk>
Young LGBTQI+ people across Europe are growing up in a period of instability and crisis, shaped by a series of intersecting threats: from the backlash against LGBTQI+ rights, populist ‘gender wars’, rising racism and xenophobia, and widespread online queerphobic violence. This session seeks to build interdisciplinary dialogue around LGBTQI+ youth mental health in times of uncertainty and violence, asking how we can better understand the impact that these intersecting crises are having on the mental health of LGBTQI+ youth, and what can be done to promote LGBTQI+ young people’s mental wellbeing, resilience and futures?
We are particularly keen to hear from those seeking to move beyond dominant biomedical psychiatric (diagnostic) and psychological (‘minority stress’) frameworks that pathologize LGBTQI+ youth as vulnerable ‘at risk’ subjects. We want instead to think sociologically about the social, economic, cultural, environmental and political conditions that shape LGBTQI+ young people’s mental health. We argue that to address the elevated rates of LGBTQI+ youth poor mental health, we must adopt a youth-rights, social justice approach to mental health that can promote social connection, resilience and collective resistance in times of profound uncertainty.
We invite potential contributors to think about the following questions and other relevant topics. Contributions can be empirical, methodological, theoretical:
• How might anti-LGBTQI+ political sentiments across Europe limit our capacity to research the lives and mental health of LGBTQI+ youth?
• How might the state disinvestment in LGBTQI+ equality initiatives impact our capacity for prevention and intervention?
• What forms of LGBTQI+ youth mental health support are already taking place beyond the state through networks of care, friendship and solidarity?
• How can we collaborate with multiple minoritised queer youth to generate possibilities to resist pathologization and create queer joy and mental wellness?
• Why might we want to think of LGBTQI+ youth mental health beyond dominant framings of ‘positive feeling’ and ‘resilience’, why might we want to hold space for ‘bad feelings’, pessimism, and retreat?
• How do our understandings of a social justice approach to queer youth mental health work intersectionally, especially around addressing ableism, racism and white privilege in mental health support services for LGBTQI+ youth.
• What are the potentials of de-pathologised mental health support for queer and trans youth?
• What are the ethics of researching LGBTQI+ youth mental health at times of crisis and uncertainty?
• What are the politics of queer youth co-production in mental health research?
• How can we conduct research around LGBTQI+ youth mental health with care? (addressing questions of extraction, exhaustion, and failed promises).
Abstract Submission
Abstract submission is now open via https://www.conftool.org/eshms2026
Submission deadline is February 15th, 2026
Abstracts should not exceed 350 words and should adhere to the following structure:
• Title
• Names and affiliations of the authors, please highlight the name of the presenting author
• Introduction, Methods, Results, Discussion (if applicable)
• Keywords, three to five keywords
• References are optional
• Title, names, affiliations, keywords, and references are not counted in the word limit
Please contact the session convenors if you have any questions e.mcdermott.1(a)bham.ac.uk<mailto:e.mcdermott.1@bham.ac.uk> / eleanor.wilkinson(a)sheffield.ac.uk<mailto:eleanor.wilkinson@sheffield.ac.uk>
Dear all,
The program is now finalized!
Session presentations will be 15 minutes, for some it will be questions directly after, for others we have planned for a joint panel discussion at the end.
I am very much looking forward to seeing you in Malmö! Please get in touch if you have any questions!
Warm regards,
Kiin
- - - - - -
Kiin Catrine Andersson
Docent i socialt arbete
Institutionen för socialt arbete, Malmö universitet
Hälsa och samhälle, 205 06 Malmö
Tfn: 040-665 85 77
