Title Promoter Affiliations Abstract "2nd Fall Symposium 2022 Building Beyond Borders - Reflecting on the agency of architecture for regenerative and distributive solutions in the Global North and the Global South." "Griet VERBEECK" ArcK "As a response to the extractive and exploitative character of the building sector, many universities and architectural practices in the Global North and the Global South have started to investigate other ways of designing and building that create a positive impact on both social and ecological level by searching for regenerative and distributive solutions. The Fall Symposium Building Beyond Borders is designed as a biennial event that reflects additionally on the postgraduate cycle. Initiated by the Building Beyond Borders team, the Fall Symposium sets up a broad conversation and reflection on the topic and live project of the most recent edition of the postgraduate, with the aim of establishing an international network of thinkers and doers that will lay a foundation for more regenerative and redistributive solution in the construction sector, both in the Global North and the Global South." "Flanders in Florence: Architectural Exchanges from North to South, 1400-1600" "Pieter Martens" "History, Archeology, Arts, Philosophy and Ethics, Brussels Centre for Urban Studies, Histories of Art, Architecture and Visual Culture" "This project will be the first to investigate the role of ‘Le Fiandre’ for Florence’s architectural culture in the period 1400-1600. It does not argue for a marked Flemish influence on Florence’s Renaissance architecture but intends to study how the intense commercial, artistic, political and military ties with the Low Countries have enriched Florence’s broad architectural culture. While the impact of Flemish painting on Florentine art is well-studied, the transfer of architectural ideas, images, materials and techniques from Flanders to Florence remains a blind spot in scholarship on Renaissance Florence’s internationalism. The project analyses what Tuscan merchant-bankers working in Flanders wrote about its local manners of building and dwelling, and how they adorned their palaces in Florence with Flemish paintings, tapestries and luxury objects. It also examines how depictions in the admired Flemish paintings of a distinctly northern, gothic architecture were perceived in Florence, where most artists, patrons and architects ostensibly favoured a totally different all’antica style. And it studies the decoration of major Florentine buildings with Flemish black marble and stained glass and with painted battle scenes and cityscapes from the Low Countries. Assessing how all these aspects interacted and evolved will enhance our understanding of a vital chapter in Europe’s cultural history and elucidate also the (perceived) characteristics of ‘Flemish’ art and architecture" "Youth work that works The learning society as a challenge to the public role of youth work." "Jan Masschelein" "Education and Society" "In the current youth work practice and research, the societal role of youth work is approached in an instrumental way. Youth work is seen as a tool that enables youngsters to gain certain competences which prepare them for participation in public life, strengthen their societal position and help to fight social ‘ills’. What is missing is an educational approach of youth work. This approach would allow for an educational understanding of the societal role of youth work. Therefore, the proposed research first intends to investigate youth work practices as educational practices, that is, to come to an articulation of their distinctive pedagogical forms (as different, for instance, from the pedagogic form of schools). Second, the research aims at an educational articulation of the societal meaning of youth work by focusing on the public, emancipatory dimension of the pedagogical form. In line with recent research on the public role of formal education (at schools, universities), the notion ‘public’ is used in a very specific way: we will take the notion of the ‘public’ as a ‘term of action’. Hence we investigate how youth work practices include public forms of gathering that to a certain extent (can) disturb the given order of society (and can be emancipatory). By investigating the educational, public and emancipatory dimension of youth work in concrete cases of youth work practices, this project aims at the development of an educational youth work theory." "The role of peers for youth with type 1 diabetes: A developmental perspective" "Koen Luyckx" "Academic Centre for Nursing and Midwifery, School Psychology and Development in Context" "Adolescence and emerging adulthood are life phases that present challenging normative tasks, such as becoming independent from parents and developing supportive relationships with peers. Type 1 diabetes (T1D) is a chronic disease that significantly impacts the daily lives of youth, adding an extra layer of complexity to an already challenging journey to adulthood. From childhood onwards, peers become an increasingly important and influential part of people’s lives. Peers may support youth to overcome normative and diabetes-related challenges, but they may also interfere with healthy adjustment to diabetes. Having to deal with T1D could, in turn, complicate the normative challenge of engaging in supportive peer relationships. Research examining peer relationships in youth with T1D is scarce, inconclusive, and characterized by several research gaps. This limits our understanding of how peer relationships develop and how they may play a role for the functioning of youth with T1D.The present dissertation is guided by two major research questions: 1. “How do peer relationships affect youth with type 1 diabetes?”; and 2. “How does type 1 diabetes affect peer relationships?”. Cross-sectional and longitudinal studies in large samples of youth with T1D are combined with state-of-the-art statistical techniques to address these questions. Part I of the dissertation focuses on bidirectional relationships between the parental and peer context and the functioning of youth with T1D. In Chapter 1, we mainly found effects going from the social context to functioning with diabetes. More specific, we found that emotional support from friends negatively predicted diabetes-specific distress on top of parental responsiveness. In emerging adults, we found extreme peer orientation to predict worse glycemic levels. In Chapter 2, we found that the extent to which youth integrate diabetes into their identity predicted adaptive peer functioning. Specifically, youth who accept, as opposed to reject, diabetes were found to perceive relatively more support from friends and have lower extreme peer orientation over time. Part II of the dissertation focuses on effects from the peer context to general and diabetes functioning. In Chapter 3, we found that diabetes-specific support from friends was unrelated to general and diabetes functioning. However, for youth who disliked this type of support, receiving more diabetes-specific support was associated with more diabetes-specific distress. Finally, in Part III we compared youth with T1D to community youth to investigate whether having T1D could affect social relationships. In Chapter 4, we found that youth with T1D perceive fewer support from friends than community youth, but also that they had lower levels of extreme peer orientation. In Chapter 5, we found that youth with T1D perceived somewhat lower levels of companionship and support from friends. Whether differences were found with community youth depended on age and gender.In sum, the findings of this dissertation demonstrate that friends are important contributors to the psychological well-being of youth with T1D as sources of emotional support. In addition, youth with T1D are somewhat more likely to struggle with peer relationships, and those who do are at risk for general and diabetes-related maladjustment. The dissertation concludes with a discussion of the theoretical and clinical implications of these findings." "Dealing with 'youth at risk' in child and family social work: In search of a critical-reflexive social work profession." "Griet Roets" "Department of Educational Studies, Department of Social Work and Social Pedagogy" "Research evidence in the academic discipline of social work shows that social work professionals are increasingly expected to protect societies from the risk that vulnerable or potentially dangerous populations pose rather than to realize their rights. This research project specifically focuses on the domain of child & family social work with ‘youth at risk’ and aims to add to the currently sparse theoretical and empirical knowledge base on how the social work profession can realize the rights of ‘youth at risk’ in risk- rather than rights-oriented societal and organizational contexts. The project builds on three fundamental premises: (1) risk is a discursive rather than a technical and measurable notion, (2) social work professionals have the ability to ‘speak back’ to constructions of risk that dismiss the social inequalities that characterize the lives of ‘youth at risk’, and (3) ‘youth at risk’ can accept or resist the risk identities that are constructed about them in social work interventions. The project relies on innovative interpretive methodologies to gain insight into the discursive construction and practical operationalization of ‘risk’ at the level of policy, the social work professional and ‘youth at risk’ themselves. The aim is to develop social work theory on how to engage with ‘risk’ from a critical-reflexive professional position, both in the domain of child & family social work and beyond (e.g. in the fields of criminal justice and mental health services)." "Large-scale study on sexting and cyber dating abuse among sexual minority youth and adolescents of different age groups." "Joris Van Ouytsel" "Media, ICT and interpersonal relations in Organisations and Society (MIOS)" "This study is an extension of my postdoctoral project and aims to investigate two digital public health risks for youth: 1) cyber dating abuse and 2) sexting. Cyber dating abuse is the controlling, stalking and harassing of a romantic partner through digital media. Sexting is the exchange of sexually explicit pictures. Large scale survey research is needed to gain a better theoretical understanding of these behaviors. For this project we will conduct a large-scale qualitative and quantitative study on cyber dating abuse and sexting. The data provide invaluable insights for the prevention of these digital forms of violence among sexual minority youth and for the development of age-appropriate educational efforts." "An EU cooperation in the field of youth justice : mission impossible ?" "Johan Put" "Institute for Social Law, Leuven Institute of Criminology" "This research focuses on minors who are involved in cross-border judicial proceedings as a suspect, defendant or offender. Criminal behavior of minors is usually regulated in the Member States by separate rules, which are somehow different from ‘general’ criminal law, i.e. youth justice legislation. However, no specific cooperation mechanisms exist in the EU to deal with cross-border youth justice cases, whereas the EU has developed the principle of mutual recognition as well as minimum standards to cooperate in criminal matters. This research therefore aims to assess to what extent it is possible and feasible to develop an EU cooperation in youth justice matters.The research consists of three parts. In the first part, the EU competences in youth justice matters are examined. In particular, the question is raised if and to what extent youth justice matters are included in the EU competence of judicial cooperation in criminal matters. Due to the undefined and ambiguous ‘criminal’ notion, it is unclear whether the existing cooperation mechanisms in criminal matters at EU level only apply to ‘adult’ criminal matters or also include youth justice matters. An analysis of the mutual recognition instruments and the procedural rights directives shows that the EU does not appear to look at whether or not youth justice matters are substantively criminal in nature but rather seems to adopt the formal qualification of the Member State. It is argued that the interpretation of the criminal concept should instead depend on the objective of the EU instrument. The protection of procedural safeguards and the rehabilitation of an individual might justify a more lenient interpretation towards youth justice matters than the mere efficiency of prosecution or enforcement of decisions abroad.In the second part of the research, four widely differing youth justice systems in the EU are analysed in order to verify the EU’s premise that the youth justice systems of the Member States are too diverse to establish an EU cooperation in the field of youth justice. The selected jurisdictions are Austria, the French Community of Belgium, the Netherlands and Northern Ireland. Their national youth justice legislation is compared in terms of age limits, specialised actors (police officers, public prosecutors, courts, lawyers, support services and detention institutions), and youth justice reactions (diversion, alternative and custodial reactions).In the third part of the research, the similarities and differences between the four youth justice systems are evaluated, on the basis of which it is assessed which opportunities and challenges exist for an EU cooperation in the field of youth justice. In general, the principle of mutual recognition could apply in youth justice matters towards 14- to 18-year olds and would hardly be an obstacle for the execution of foreign youth justice reactions, provided that adaptation and review possibilities exist. The bottom-up approach of the research moreover reveals that some aspects of the youth justice systems, mainly relating to the specialisation of youth justice actors, could be subject to more refined minimum standards. However, other national aspects may constitute a violation of fundamental children’s rights and could therefore justify a refusal of a Member State’s request for cooperation, in line with ECJ case law in criminal matters. To conclude, some minimum standards are identified that the EU would have to impose and enforce in a top-down manner if it envisages a standard that goes beyond the greatest common denominator put forward in this research." "The Functioning of Youth with a Chronic Illness and their Micro-Context:Intergenerational Associations and Mechanisms." "Koen Luyckx" "School Psychology and Development in Context, Academic Centre for Nursing and Midwifery" "Chronic health conditions in youth not only affect the lives of patients themselves, they also exert a substantial impact on parents. By considering chronic health conditions as family conditions, the present project addressed some important gaps in this research area by (1) focusing on the challenging life periods of adolescence and emerging adulthood; (2) studying both negative and positive illness experiences; and (3) including youth along with mothers and fathers. In doing so, two different illness populations were sampled, that is, youth with type 1 diabetes and cancer survivors. This dissertation was structured into two parts. In Part I, illness experiences and well-being were examined separately in youth with chronic health conditions and in their parents. In Part II, a family perspective was applied to investigate how illness experiences in parents related to illness experiences and well-being in youth.In Part I, Chapter 1 investigated identity formation in childhood cancer survivors. Cancer survivors showed similar identity functioning as compared to a community-based control sample. The identity dimension of ruminative exploration stood out because of its associations with negative illness experiences and poorer psychological well-being. Chapter 2 used cross-lagged panel analysis to establish the longitudinal association and interplay between benefit finding and cancer-related worries in childhood cancer survivors and in mothers and fathers. Benefit finding was mainly associated with life satisfaction, whereas cancer-related worries were mainly related to depressive symptoms. Chapter 3 longitudinally investigated parental illness intrusiveness in parents of youth with type 1 diabetes. Mothers’ and fathers’ levels of illness intrusiveness were found to be interdependent over time. In addition, about 10% of parental couples was identified as being at risk for experiencing relatively high parental illness intrusiveness, but also elevated levels of depressive symptoms.In Part II, Chapter 4 focused on perceptions of control in youth with type 1 diabetes and their mothers and fathers. This triadic approach highlighted the importance of parental control perceptions on top of youth’s own perceptions for explaining diabetes outcomes. Finally, Chapter 5 presented a cross-sectional path model from parental to youth well-being in the type 1 diabetes sample. Both in youth-mother and youth-father dyads, higher parental illness intrusiveness and depressive symptoms were related to poorer youth outcomes (i.e., higher depressive symptoms, poorer treatment adherence, and poorer glycemic control). These associations were partially explained by the parenting dimensions of psychological control and overprotection.This project further established the importance of addressing adolescents and emerging adults together with their parents in pediatric psychology. New insights were gained that could be useful for recognizing signs of significant burden but also signs of positive adaptation in youth and their mothers and fathers." "Performing culture in youth courts: An active ethnography of narrative negotiations" "Olga Petintseva" "Department of Criminology, Criminal Law and Social Law" "The project explores the ways in which the notion ‘culture’ is mobilised in youth courts. This institutional context is underpinned by ""it's for your own good"" ideals, entailing a constant balancing between protecting and punishing young people. Professionals also need to take into account youth's overall background. Previous research has shown that 'mundane' understandings of ‘culture' influence these assessments and at times negatively impact decision making. Based on the insights of legal anthropologists (who study the role of culture in court but often limit themselves to culture in legal arguments), this research makes a link to (narrative) criminology to understand the role of culture in the social practice of courts. ‘Culture and crime’ as well as ‘culture and decision making’ narratives produced in formal and 'backstage' interactions in courts will be studied. The project discusses what culture means and how narratives of culture function to legitimise (possibly harmful) interventions. Theoretically, it further develops the notion 'penal harm’. Observations in two youth courts (one in Belgium and one in the Netherlands) will be conducted. Gradually, the research shifts to a more active mode, stimulating a discussion about 'culture' (in interviews and in roundtables involving cultural experts). This way the study contributes to a transformation of static culture notions. Moreover, it analyses the power dynamics of these group negotiations of the meaning of ‘culture’." "Towards a definition of Multiple and Complex Needs in adolescents in youth (health) care and an exploration of care delivery needs of this population." "Dirk van West" "Collaborative Antwerp Psychiatric Research Institute (CAPRI)" "Flemish expert consensus regarding multiple and complex needs in youth care: a Delphi study Background Child psychiatry and related child serving agencies are challenged by an increasing case complexity. Children and adolescents with the most complex issues come into contact with a large variety of professionals across services. However, there is no agreed-upon definition of multiple and complex needs (MCN) in children and adolescents, and information about complexity in youth care is scarce. No agreed-upon recommendations for identification and care delivery for children and adolescents with MCN are available. Objectives The aim of this project is to formulate a consensus definition of MCN in children and adolescents, and to add to the knowledge concerning the concept of complexity in youth care. Moreover, recommendations regarding identification and treatment of MCN throughout sectors of youth care are assessed. Methods A modified Delphi process is used to assess expert perceptions regarding definition and conceptualization of multiple and complex needs. A panel of at least 35 persons with expertise in complex cases is recruited in several child-serving sectors. A review of the literature, in-depth interviews with youths with MCN and their parents, and focus groups with professionals were used to develop Likert statements, and open questions for the first round. An online survey tool (Qualtrics) is used to build and distribute questionnaires and collect answers. Results and conclusion The expected outcome of this Delphi study is an agreed-upon definition of MCN in children and adolescents. Also, our results will enrich the cross-sectoral knowledge with regard to the identification and treatment of MCN."