The downloadable version of the draft programme is available here.
Please don't forget to sign the participation list.
Room: Glass annex
Hear about the latest updates that connect to social affairs and the work of cities on children and young people. During this meeting we will share information on the next EU budget, the European Pillar of Social Rights Action plan and the upcoming EU Anti-Poverty Strategy.
Room: Conference Hall
Room: Conference Hall
Room: Conference Hall
Children facing multiple disadvantages (poverty, malnutrition, substandard housing, health and mental health issues, violence etc.) cannot be effectively supported through isolated interventions. The integrated delivery of the municipal services targeting these issues ensures these services reinforce each other rather than remain siloed. One option for this is to create multidisciplinary teams which bring together professionals from diverse fields under a shared objective. Integrated specialist input through these teams can improve access to services and care, minimising unnecessary repetition and in the case of abuse, re-traumatisation.
Speakers:
- Child representative from Ljubljana
Room: Conference Hall
Room: Glass annex
Interactive session designed to equip city officials with practical skills, new insights, and actionable strategies to tackle urban challenges. These sessions provide a collaborative space where participants can exchange ideas, explore best practices, and engage with experts on key policy areas and offer a hands-on approach to understanding and applying innovative solutions in city governance.
Participants can choose to attend one of the parallel Learning Labs.
Almost one in four children in the EU are at risk of poverty or social exclusion. This workshop will focus on how cities can translate the EU Child Guarantee into integrated local solutions: from providing nutritious meals, healthcare, and housing to supporting parents through family services and direct assistance. Participants will share challenges and strategies to break cycles of poverty and ensure equal opportunities for every child.
Additional information about this learning lab session is available here.
Room: Conference Hall
Violence against children remains a critical concern in Europe, undermining their development, well-being, and rights. This workshop will present an overview of current trends in child abuse, neglect, and exploitation, drawing on recent research and statistical evidence. The discussion will emphasise the role of social services in preventing and responding to violence, with particular attention to family support services and community-based interventions. These approaches have the potential to reduce child-family separation and reliance on alternative care, strengthen family resilience, promote children’s rights, and build human capital. By examining policy frameworks, practical examples, and implementation challenges, the workshop aims to provide participants with a comprehensive understanding of how child protection systems can safeguard children and foster positive outcomes in diverse social contexts.
Additional information about this learning lab session can be found here.
Room: Multipurpose room on the 2nd floor
How can cities strengthen support for children with special needs through inclusive education, teacher training, and community-based practices? The Educational Centre Pika will present both the principles of inclusion and practical approaches to implementing them in everyday teaching. Participants will gain insights into how inclusive schools can promote not only academic success, but also children’s mental health, social integration, and well-being.
Through case-based group work, participants will reflect on dilemmas such as whether a child with developmental delay is best supported in a mainstream or specialised school setting.
Please click here for more information about this Learning Lab session.
Room: Multipurpose room on the 3rd floor
Get together with fellow participants after a busy day of productive discussions to enjoy a delightful meal accompanied by a glass of Slovenian wine at one of the restaurants in the city center.
For your convenience, we prepared a list of recommended restaurants located in the city center of Ljubljana.
Please don't forget to sign the participation list.
Participants can choose to attend one of the parallel workshops.
Too many vulnerable residents still miss out on the social support they are entitled to. Ghent is exploring how to make better use of city data to design proactive social services—support that reaches families automatically, without complex applications or administrative barriers. This workshop will look at how data-driven approaches can help cities increase accessibility, ensure privacy, and improve service delivery. Participants will discuss how to design inclusive, efficient systems that combine innovation, rights protection, and human-centred care.
Room: Conference Hall
In Ljubljana, many school playgrounds stay open to the wider community after school hours and on weekends, offering valuable spaces for play, socialising, and physical activity. But what happens when staff supervision ends? Who feels safe, and who prefers to stay away? At a time when childhood is increasingly shaped by digital content and screen time, these playgrounds remain one of the few open spaces for healthy development and connection.
This workshop will address the issue of bullying on school playgrounds, exploring the roles of schools, parents, and the local community. Participants will discuss ways of working together to create safe and inclusive playgrounds for all children, even outside regular school hours.
Room: Multipurpose room on the 2nd floor
Children and young people in Helsinki, as in many European cities, face growing anxiety, loneliness, and insecurity about their future. This co-creation workshop will explore how cities can strengthen children’s and adolescents’ mental wellbeing, participation, and sense of belonging, particularly among those from immigrant and low-income backgrounds. Drawing on Helsinki’s experience, participants will discuss how to integrate wellbeing and “pedagogy of hope” into education, build cooperation between schools, families, and NGOs, and create supportive communities that empower children to believe in their ability to shape their own futures.
Room: Multipurpose room on the 3rd floor
Room: Glass annex
GREEN - Public Institute Young Dragons – Mobile and community-based youth work in Ljubljana
This two-part study visit offers an in-depth look at both outreach and centre-based approaches to youth engagement through Young Dragons, an innovative youth outreach programme in Ljubljana that brings creative, flexible, and inclusive activities directly to neighbourhoods with limited access to structured youth programmes. Participants will first explore the Mobile Youth Centre Ljuba & Drago and its street-based youth work approach, learning how the team designs co-created activities – from art workshops to peer-led projects – and tailors them to the needs and ideas of local young people.
The second part takes place at Youth Centre Zalog, where participants will see how a community-based centre builds long-term partnerships with schools, associations, and youth themselves to foster participation, creativity, and inclusion.
The bus will be organised to transport participants to the Mobile Youth Center Ljuba & Drago, and then to Youth Center Zalog. Departing point is Center Rog.
YELLOW - Family Centre Mala Ulica
Mala ulica (Little Street) is the first family centre in Slovenia, opened in 2013, designed with children’s needs in mind, the centre offers a creative and safe environment with play areas, hidden corners, a library, a slide, spaces for babies, and an outdoor playground for different age groups. Open daily, including weekends and holidays, it welcomes over 36,000 visitors each year and has quickly become a vital meeting point for young families in Ljubljana.
The centre hosts daily creative workshops, storytelling sessions, and weekend programmes for children, as well as morning activities for parents – from baby massage to post-birth exercise classes and parenting discussions. Since 2014, Mala ulica has also offered The Incredible Years programme, an evidence-based initiative supporting children’s social, emotional, and academic development while helping parents manage behavioural challenges. It is an internationally recognised prevention and support programme for parents, professionals and children. It focuses on strengthening positive parenting approaches, improving family relationships and promoting children's emotional and social development. In Mala ulica prevention activities such as parenting support, individual and group counselling for parents as well as learning social skills and emotional literacy, especially for children with multiple needs or from vulnerable families, are offered for free and in short time.
Mala ulica is also the largest provider of holiday care in Ljubljana, enabling children who would otherwise be left to fend for themselves to spend their holidays carefree. During school holidays, it runs summer day camps at multiple locations across the city. The holiday care is free for vulnerable children and with small participation from others. Participants will explore the centre, learn about its programmes, and actively join an Incredible Years workshop.
It is a walking study visit. Mala Ulica Family Center is just a short 10-minute stroll from Center Rog, along Trubarjeva Street, the most colourful street in the city.
BLUE - Mental Health Centre for Children and Adolescents and LogOut Centre for Digital Wellbeing
Mental well-being is an important part of general health, as both physical and mental health affect the way we think, experience, feel and act. This study visit offers a presentation on assistance/support for children and adolescents who are facing mental distress and excessive use or addiction to electronic devices.
Mental Health Centre for Children and Adolescents offers comprehensive and accessible professional help to children, adolescents and families. Centre provides support and treatment, support to family members, programmes for parents and guardians, counselling and education, one-to-one and group psychotherapy.
LogOut is a support centre for the prevention of excessive internet use. Its mission is to improve the digital well-being of all people especially youngsters by providing treatment, help, information, education, and raising awareness on balanced and healthy use of media and technology.
The bus will be organised to transport participants to the study visit location. Departing point is Center Rog.
Room: Glass annex
Exchange with city-representatives about the challenges presented during the parallel co-creation workshops. Learn more about the challenges of the workshops you couldn’t join and hear about the inspiring suggestions that were drafted during the workshops.
Room: Glass annex
Please don't forget to sign the participation list.
Cities across Europe have been facing staff shortages in the social and care sectors serving children. This plenary session will explore innovative ways to strengthen existing teams, invest in training, mentoring, and leadership development, and make these professions more attractive long term. This line of work is hard and requires constant training in multiple fields. Children often present with various challenges in different settings: a child might show early signs of mental health struggles in kindergarten or indicators of neglect or maltreatment at an after-school community event. This makes multidisciplinary teams and a strong community of professionals essential so that teachers, social workers, health staff, and community actors can all recognise early warning signs, offer initial support, and bring in the right professionals to address complex problems.
Participants will discuss how to maximise impact with limited human resources across European cities, promote cross-sector collaboration, and involve both professional and non-professional actors to provide holistic, coordinated care for children. Speakers will showcase local innovations such as mentoring schemes, leadership training, and recruitment initiatives alongside the EU’s policy initiative on skills, which aims to improve teacher quality, career prospects, professional development, and well-being while addressing digital skills and modern classroom challenges.
By highlighting both the professional expertise needed within services and the role of communities in prevention and support, the discussion will give participants concrete ideas on how to strengthen local child services while building long-term capacity across Europe.
Room: Conference Hall
Room: Glass annex
For the City Trends Paper the SAF team is writing, the participants will be asked to talk about their challenges implementing the Child Guarantee at the local level and what kind of support they would require.
Room: Conference Hall
Room: Conference Hall
Room: Glass annex
The meeting will include an evaluation of the current 2024–2025 workplan and a planning discussion for the 2026–2027 workplan, setting priorities and future activities for the group. Participants will also reflect on insights from recent initiatives and identify opportunities for collaboration with other stakeholders and Eurocities working groups. The agenda is available here, and the meeting is open to members who are or would like to become active in the Working Group. In the last 90 minutes, the members will keep developing their Erasmus+ project idea, as a follow up to the last WG meeting.
For more information, download the meeting agenda.
Room: Multipurpose room on the 2nd floor