The downloadable version of the draft programme is available here.
Please don't forget to sign the participation list.
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.
Speakers:
- Deputy Mayor, Ljubljana
- Danijela Dolenec, Vice Chair of the Social Affairs Forum & Deputy Mayor, Zagreb (tbc)
- Katarina Ivankovic-Knezevic, Director, DG EMPL, European Commission (tbc)
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:
- Mateja Hudoklin, Director of The Counselling Centre for Children, Adolescents and Parents, Ljubljana
- Child representative from Ljubljana
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.
GREEN - Child poverty: Localising the EU Child Guarantee
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.
YELLOW- Child protection: From Safeguarding to Policy
How can cities ensure that every child grows up safe from harm? This workshop will look at practical approaches to safeguarding, prevention, and child protection policies, with a focus on building integrated child protection systems that connect schools, health services, social workers, and communities. The workshop will help cities design effective systems to identify risks early, protect children from abuse and neglect, and build trust with families. Participants will exchange local practices and explore how to turn policies into action.
BLUE - Inclusive Classrooms: Supporting Children with Special Needs through Teacher Training and Community Practice
Hosted by Ljubljana
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.
A list of suggested restaurants will follow shortly.
Please don't forget to sign the participation list.
Co-creation workshops offer participants the opportunity to work on solutions to real life complex social challenges presented by selected cities. The workshops will consist of guided interactive step-by-step process aiming at creating targeted solutions to a specific case study, representative of issues faced by many cities. Cities interested to present a co-creation challenge can apply by sending this form to henriett.horvath@eurocities.eu and solene.molard@eurocities.eu by 6 October.
Participants can choose to attend one of the parallel workshops.
GREEN - City challenge on child poverty
You can apply for hosting this workshop.
YELLOW – Challenge on preventing and addressing bullying in schools
Hosted by Ljubljana
BLUE - Call for city challenge on health
You can apply for hosting this workshop.
GREEN - Child poverty track: Flying 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 Flying 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.
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.
BLUE - Children’s Health and Wellbeing track: 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.
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
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.
Speakers:
- Alfonso Lara-Montero, Chief Executive Officer, European Social Network (tbc)
- Eva Kreslin, Director, Mala Ulica Public Institution - Centre for Children and Families, Ljubljana
- Märta Lindqvist Weddig, Project Coordinator of the New Recruits Project, Gothenburg
- Ulrike Storost, Deputy Head of Unit Schools and Multilingualism, European Commission (tbc)
- Anica Mikuš Kos, Leading expert on children mental health, Ljubljana
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.
Speakers:
- Deputy Mayor, Ljubljana
- Renaud Payre, Chair of the Social Affairs Forum & Vice President, Lyon Metropole (tbc)