international activities

Five key takeaways from the Nordic headspace conference 2025 – "Turn the tide: New approaches to youth mental health and early intervention"

The Nordic headspace 2025 conference took place in the Fællessalen at the Danish Parliament, Christiansborg, bringing together 150 participants from 18 countries. 

The conference gathered practitioners, policymakers and young people from the Nordic region and the rest of the world to share insights, knowledge and experiences to answer the big question: How do we turn the tide on young people's mental wellbeing? 

Already the day before, a larger group of participants had effectively kicked off this year's conference by joining a workshop at headspace Denmark and visiting the local headspace centre in Lyngby. You can read more about the visit at the bottom of the page. 

We would like to thank all participants at Nordic headspace for their commitment, their invaluable input and their tireless determination to improve young people's wellbeing across the globe. 

Here are five key takeaways from the conference days.

1. Human connection is crucial in a digital age

A recurring theme throughout the conference was the concern that everyday encounters – small talk at the supermarket, a smile on the bus, a quick "hi" in the street – are slowly disappearing as digitalisation and automation increase. 

As former Icelandic Minister of Social Affairs Árni Páll Árnason reminded us, these small, informal meetings and conversations are what keep us connected – and their absence affects not only young people's mental health, but all of ours. 

This is a message that resonates strongly with headspace Denmark and clearly did so in the room as well: We must insist on presence, conversation and nurturing relationships in a daily life that can all too easily be reduced to screens, self-service solutions and isolation.  

Prevention often begins with something as simple as someone asking: "How are you – really?" 

2. Prevention and early intervention must play a much bigger role

WHO's representative, Dr Ledia Lazëri, put numbers to a well-known problem: Only 3.6% of global mental health budgets are allocated to prevention and promotion, even though we know this is where the greatest impact is achieved – both in human and economic terms. 

She highlighted the services provided by the NGOs present and several others from around the world, including Zimbabwe, Italy and Latvia, where practitioners are already making a tangible difference by meeting young people where they are. 

The message to decision-makers was clear: If we want to turn the tide, we also need to redirect the flow of funding. We must invest substantially more in prevention, early intervention and low-threshold services that can catch young people before they can no longer cope – and before the pressure on an already overburdened healthcare system increases even further. 

3. Flexible civil society services work – but struggle with sustainability

Across international youth services, including our Nordic partners Bergið headspace and Mental Helse, the same experience emerged: When young people are met on their terms, in safe communities and within flexible frameworks it makes a real difference. 

Tom Guldberg from Mental Helse in Norway shared how activities such as gathering a group of boys in a workshop and having them build something together over 6–8 months can open space for difficult conversations about life. 

But from Bergið headspace in Iceland, we also heard how they still must fight year after year to secure funding, even though young people are clearly using the service. Several NGOs pointed to the paradox that success does not automatically lead to stability: The more in-demand and effective the services become, the greater the uncertainty if funding remains short-term and project-based. 

The key point was that if we want a strong "ecosystem" around young people's mental health, we must ensure long-term, predictable conditions for the organisations that make a difference for young people. 

4. Young people are experts in their own lives – and must be at the table

One of the strongest voices at the conference was Lærke, an upper secondary school student and representative of headspace Denmark, who set the tone for the day in the Fællessalen. Her message was clear: 

"The future must be shaped with young people, not for young people." 

Together with other young people from Denmark and Norway, she described a youth life full of opportunities but also characterised by demands, expectations and constant self-evaluation – from school, social media, parents and society at large. They called for more in-person communities where you can be yourself without having to be in crisis, and where it feels natural to talk about how you are doing. 

For headspace Denmark, this is exactly the core: We are the voice of young people – in one-to-one meetings, at events and in our policy work. When young people share their hopes, doubts and dreams, they are not only pointing to problems but also to solutions: More community, more presence and a society that recognises that life inevitably has both ups and downs. 

5. A growing Nordic and global network – and a shared responsibility

On both Thursday and Friday young people, practitioners, researchers, NGOs, foundations and policymakers from Denmark, Norway, Iceland, the rest of Europe – and all the way from the USA and Australia, shared methods, data and concrete experiences across borders and systems. 

The tone was clear: The knowledge and will are there. Now it is about translating them into joint action and a call for braver political prioritising – locally, nationally and internationally. 

As headspace Denmark's founder and patron Poul Nyrup Rasmussen put it in his closing speech:  

"We already hold many of the solutions. The task now is to create a sustainable ecosystem around them – a "welfare society 2.0" where civil society, research, foundations, municipalities and policymakers work side by side to support young people's mental health." 

 

Workshop and visit to headspace in Lyngby 

As mentioned at the beginning, a group of international guests started the conference already on Thursday by taking part in an idea development workshop at headspace Denmark and visiting the local headspace centre in Lyngby. 

Here, the centre's manager Kasper, youth counsellor Sven Buster, two volunteers and the municipality's representative at the centre took the international guests behind the scenes: How do we at headspace Denmark get in touch with young people locally? How do we build trust? And how do we support them going forward – whether that is through bridge-building to other services, contact with their GP or a course of conversations with us? 

On behalf of the headspace centre in Lyngby, we would like to say a huge thank you for the visit and for the many curious questions from our international guests. 

And finally, a big thank you to our partners in Nordic headspace: Bergið headspace and Mental Helse. And last but certainly not least, to everyone who works every single day to turn the tide together with young people all over the world. 

Together, we can do so much more 💚 

If you would like to be part of the Nordic headspace network or are curious about how you or your organisation can contribute, you are always welcome to reach out to headspace Denmark's international department. 

 

Contact: 
Nina Moss, Head of International Department at headspace Denmark 
Email: nimo@detsocialenetvaerk.dk 
Tel: +45 22 76 95 86