We have entered into a four-year partnership with Faaborg-Midtfyn Municipality with the goal of promoting children and young people’s wellbeing through a systematic, data-driven, and co-creative approach. We call the partnership project the Thriving Communities Lab.
Vision
The vision is to generate new knowledge about what works – and what does not work – in addressing wellbeing challenges, and to share this knowledge with other municipalities and stakeholders in the field. It is therefore not just a stand-alone project, but also an attempt to develop a new way of driving change in preventive work.
Background
Poor wellbeing among children and young people is an increasing and complex societal challenge. The causes are many and interrelated – ranging from social circumstances and mental strain to body image, social media, and health inequality. Previous initiatives have often been inadequate because they were too narrow or short-term. There is therefore a need for new, holistic solutions.
The partnership builds on local experiences from Faaborg-Midtfyn Municipality and combines them with a strong research-based foundation and international inspiration from systems-oriented models. The project has a total framework of up to DKK 18 million and involves municipal staff, researchers, and the young people themselves.
Method and Approach
We work from five cornerstones: a systems-oriented perspective, a data-driven approach, co-creation, strong partnerships, and strategic communication. Data on children’s wellbeing is collected and analysed, forming the basis for the co-creative development of concrete initiatives. The project engages broadly – from young people to professionals and leaders – and develops solutions that are locally anchored and realistic to implement.
By combining municipal practice with research and cross-sector collaboration, the partnership builds a bridge between daily operations and new knowledge.
Press Release
New Innovative Collaboration: Data-Driven Approach to Promote Children and Young People’s Wellbeing | Centre for Childhood Health
Local Activities
Faaborg-Midtfyn Municipality also focused on children and young people’s wellbeing before the partnership. See more about what is already underway here:
19 March 2025
Faaborg-Midtfyn Municipality hosted a workshop where local children and young people expressed their ideas about wellbeing through words and images. Our two project managers and researchers, Anneke Vang Hjort and Josephine Funck Bilsteen, took part in the event, which was part of an extensive participatory process in developing a new children and youth policy. You can see a video from the workshop and read more about it on our LinkedIn.
3 December 2024
We wanted to learn more about how wellbeing is approached in Faaborg-Midtfyn Municipality. That is why we visited the Broby Schools, where Wellbeing and Tolerance is a subject on the timetable alongside Danish, Mathematics, Music, and more.
This visit resulted in a series of videos. Watch them below!
