Three days that showed the power of youth work

What happens when hundreds of people dedicated to working with and for young people come together in one place?

At last week’s KEKS conference, the answer was clear: ideas were sparked, experiences were shared, new collaborations began to take shape, and the collective understanding of what open youth work can be grew even stronger.

For three days, Lindholmen Conference Centre in Gothenburg welcomed 730 youth workers, managers, development leads, and other key actors from 56 Swedish municipalities and 14 European countries. Together, we explored issues that are vital to our field: youth participation, equal access to leisure, safety, violence prevention, learning, and quality in youth work. 

The programme reflected open youth work today. Topics ranged from democracy, rural perspectives, anti-racism, and digital meeting spaces to LGBTQI+ inclusion, international cooperation, young people at risk, creativity, leadership, and how we create environments where young people can grow, have influence, and be seen and heard. 

But the conference is about more than what happens on stage or in the programme. It is also about the encounters in between — the conversations during breaks, the questions people carry home with them, the laughter, the shared recognition, and the feeling of being part of something bigger. 

KEKS is a network, and the conference is both possible and meaningful because it is something we create together. Thank you to all participants, speakers, seminar hosts, study visit hosts, exhibitors, and partners who helped make this year’s gathering in Gothenburg possible. 

We hope everyone who took part returned home with fresh ideas, new connections, and renewed energy for their work with young people.  

The next KEKS conference will take place in Gothenburg on 7–9 May 2027. There will be plenty of new developments, more information will follow once the dust has settled after this year’s event and our focus turns to 2027.