Social Sustainability for Children and Families (SOSUS)
Table of contents
Project description
SOSUS focuses on the promoting of the competence and wellbeing of children and families, in which three key issues of social sustainability are essential – equity, wellbeing and participation. It addresses the urgent need for critical analysis and societally relevant understanding on the key processes and structures contributing to social sustainability, which will ultimately promote equity, wellbeing and the participation of children and their families.
Overall, the aim of SOSUS is to build up transdisciplinary research actions that are methodologically diverse and sophisticated, as well as ethically sensitive and which draw together the three focus areas of the profiling action and provide novel understanding of the interlinkages critical for creating social sustainability for children and families.
Focus areas
SOSUS addresses urgent societal challenges in the following three research focus areas.
Focus area 1. Interfaces between different domains of life for families and children.
PIs Anna Rönkä (Education and Psychology) & Suvi Heikkinen (School of Business and Economics)
This focus area extends knowledge of the interfaces between family, work and educational contexts. Changes in society and the global environment have transformed the interfaces between the different life domains enabling wellbeing and participation for some families and children, but constraining such possibilities for others. Of specific interest is the impact of intensified and unpredictable working life on families and children’s learning and growth environments and their opportunities for care, participation, wellbeing, and physical activity. By focusing on the social responsibility of organisations, their management and leadership, this focus area investigates the work–family–care relationship, taking into account the increasing diversity of families and the workforce.
Focus area 2. Transitions in family life and education.
PIs Maarit Alasuutari (Education and Psychology) & Heli Valtonen (Humanities and Social Sciences)
Family life and educational transitions may pose challenges and create risks leading for dropping out of education, but they also offer possibilities for participation, agency and wellbeing. Transitions are important for equity and the success of societies in preventing social exclusion. Though affected by factors related to individuals, transitions are heavily constrained by social, cultural, institutional, economic and material conditions. Focus area 2 examines the diverse, multiple and often overlapping transitions in children’s and young people’s educational pathways and family life. The focus area will produce interdisciplinary knowledge about the linkages between individual and structural aspects in family life and education transitions and about supportive mechanisms and institutional managing of transitions that contribute to the wellbeing and equity of individuals and communities not just today but in a long-run (past-present-future).
Focus area 3. Prevention and intervention programmes for children and families.
PIs Kati Vasalampi (Education and Psychology) & Suvi Saarikallio (Music, Art and Culture Studies)
This focus area researches and develops prevention and intervention programmes and services, assessing their applicability for diverse groups and environments, and gaining knowledge on their impact mechanisms. Of specific interest are services and programmes concerning screening and preventing parental burnout, psychological resources for parents, methods to promote health literacy and the psychological wellbeing of young people, promoting children’s physical activity and adaptive leisure activities, professional practices ensuring children’s participation rights, and inclusive practices in education and child protection. Results will critically enhance research-based knowledge and practitioner skills to advance the resilience and wellbeing of children and families in society.
News and events
The SOSUS researchers organize different kinds of events and take actively part in topical discussions within and outside the university. You are warmly welcome to join in on our activities!
Upcoming SOSUS Conference in May 2025!
SOSUS is organising Hope and resilience: A multidisciplinary conference on social sustainability for children, youth, and diverse families Conference at the Ä¢¹½Ö±²¥ on 6.-8.5.2025. The conference invites researchers from various fields and disciplines to explore how we can foster well-being, resilience, and hope for the future within families and communities. Read more about the conference themes and how to submit an abstract on the event website.
Monthly SOSUS Morning Coffees
We gather once a month for interactive morning coffees to catch up and exchange ideas on topical issues concerning the SOSUS profiling area. Morning coffees are held via Zoom-connection. You can ask for the participation link from sosus(at)jyu.fi.
Morning coffees in Spring 2025
- Fri Mar 14, at 9:00 in RUU E208 Päivö and via Zoom: Qazi Ahmed will present his research with a title "Home-School Cooperation in Children's Education: Insights from Immigrant Families in Finland"
- Fri Mar 21, at 2:00 pm in RUU E213 Lauri and via Zoom: Henna Pirskanen will present her research with a title "Sorrow, Grief, and Resilience in Children and Young People: A Relational Approach"
- Fri Apr 11, at 9:00 in RUU A310 Rauha and via Zoom: Suvi Heikkinen and Kaisu Peltoperä will present their research with a title "Co-Creating Togetherness In Ethically Challenging Leading Situations in ECEC"
