The Youth Research Platform (Jeugdonderzoeksplatform) is a Flemish (Belgian) interdisciplinary cooperation between three academic research groups initiated by the Flemish government to stimulate systematical and interdisciplinary attention for youth research.
On this page you can find some basic information on the origins of the Youth Research Platform, our organization and main tasks. Feel free to contact Susan Lagaert (Susan.Lagaert@UGent.be) for more information or if you are interested in our work and our publications.
Origins and organization of the Youth Research Platform
The Youth Research Platform was founded in 2003 by the Flemish government in response to the identification of several problems and shortcomings in the state of Flemish youth research. The youth policy plan of the Flemish government (2002) cited the problem as follows “One of the most important obstacles in Flanders is the lack of sufficient youth research and the lack of convergence between the research projects. There is also a problem with the communication of these research results.” The Youth Research Platform (JOP) aims to change this situation. Up until the creation of JOP, there was no solid structure making an overview of youth research or gathering data on the social life of Flemish youth on a recurrent and structural basis.
The following research groups make up the Youth Research Platform:
- Department of Social Work and Social Pedagogy (Ghent University)
- Research group ‘Tempus Omnia Revelat’, Department of sociology (University of Brussels)
- Research Line Youth Criminology, Leuven Institute of Criminology (Leuven University)
Our main tasks
The Youth Research Platform carries out three main tasks:
1) inventory of existing youth research in a Knowledge data base
A first task of the Youth Research Platform is to inventory existing youth research. This helps to overcome the problem of scattered research (results), and the lack of knowledge on existing youth research. Primary attention goes to the inventory of recent (empirical) research on Flemish and Belgian youth. We include a diverse range of research domains relevant for youth research, such as family, leisure, school, health, well-being, work, education, environment, delinquency and media. The main findings of these studies are summarized in a short research file. These files are freely accessible for researchers, policy makers, students and other interested persons via the the Knowledge database on this website.
2) recurrent quantitative research which monitors the life of Flemish youth
The second task of the Youth Research Platform is to gather empirical data on the life and different life domains of Flemish youth. The survey, the JOP-monitor, is conducted every 5 years and provides cross-sectional and representative data, based on a random sample of Flemish youth. The most recent data collections took place in 2013, 2018 and 2023. In 2023 over 7000 Flemish young people took part in one of the JOP-surveys.
Next to these general surveys, JOP city-monitors are administered in secondary schools in several cities in Flanders. In 2018 and 2023, data was collected in schools in Antwerp, Brussels and Ghent and in schools in other parts of Flanders.
The results are made available via the JOP-publications and through a data-application on the website.
3) development of an international dimension
A third task is the development of an international dimension. This implies the dissemination of research results on an international level. For this aim, JOP-researchers publish scientific articles based on the collected survey data in international journals and actively participate in international conferences.
The Youth Research Platform is also appointed as the Flemish correspondent in the European Knowledge Centre for Youth Policy (EKCYP), for which relevant ‘country information’ on Flemish youth policy is delivered.
