Conference
Staff symposium on student well-being: Resilience through connection
- Date
- Thursday 26 March 2026
- Time
- Address
-
Wijnhaven
Turfmarkt 99
2511 DP The Hague
Are you a lecturer or a study adviser? Or are you in regular contact with students? Mark Thursday 26 March 2026 in your calendar!
What does resilience mean to you? What role do you have in fostering students’ resilience?
Students are under increasing pressure. As staff, we need to recognise the warning signs, offer support and build a learning environment where they can grow.
In this symposium, we’ll explore together what resilience really means in our daily interactions with students. You’ll have the chance to share experiences and will leave with practical tools you can use in your work. Because we all play a part in shaping resilient students for tomorrow.
What to expect
We’re proud to welcome two inspiring keynote speakers:
Eveline Crone – The adolescent in 2026
Professor of Developmental Neuroscience in Society (Erasmus University Rotterdam) and Neurocognitive Developmental Psychology (Leiden University).
Young people are growing up in a world of distractions, societal challenges and pressure to achieve. Eveline Crone will show how their developing brains are vulnerable yet also present opportunities. She will share what young people need to be resilient – and the role our staff can play. A critical look at the world of the young in 2026.
Levi van Dam – Resilience in a hybrid society
Professor of Resilience in Youth (University of Amsterdam)
Many students experience psychological stress, but how do we define that? Levi van Dam will explore how resilience is built, the role of autonomy and connection, and why we’re more aware of mental health issues nowadays. With real-life examples and tools such as apps and community initiatives like the Feelee app and Mentale Wasstraat, you’ll gain insights you can immediately apply in your teaching and student support.
Workshops & networking
In the afternoon session, you’ll join interactive workshops on pressing topics relating to student well-being and resilience, and will have ample opportunity to exchange ideas with colleagues from other departments and faculties.
Programme
| 9:30 | Doors open |
| 10:00 |
Opening by student host |
| 10:10 | Welcome by Rector Magnificus Sarah de Rijcke |
| 10:15 | Keynote Eveline Crone |
| 11:00 | Keynote Levi van Dam |
| 12:00 | Lunch |
| 13:00 | Workshops round 1 |
| 14:00 | Workshops round 2 |
| 15:00 | Alcohol-free reception |
The main programme will be in Dutch, with live English subtitles. Several workshops will also be offered in English.
Can’t make it for the whole day? You’re welcome to join us for either the morning or afternoon session.
Workshop round 1
Resilience: From theory and lived experience to practice | Anne-Laura van Harmelen, Elizabeth Buimer and Hannah Dorsman with two young representatives from the Augeo Youth Taskforce (in Dutch)
This workshop will be in Dutch, see the Dutch page for more details.
Creating Safe Spaces to Promote Resilience among Internationals | Margarita Lourido Ferreira
In this session, you will gain a clearer understanding of culture as a set of shared, often unspoken rules that influence how people communicate, collaborate, and feel a sense of belonging.
You will explore common challenges faced by students living abroad, such as cultural shock, acculturative stress, and navigating invisible cultural differences – and what these challenges may look like in everyday interaction.
Finally, we introduce core elements for creating psychological safety, using empathy, non-judgment, and awareness of cultural relativity, so you can create more inclusive and supportive learning environment.
Your Future Self, Well-being and Resilience | Jean-Louis van Gelder and Esther Mertens
How can insight into your future self help you make better choices, now and in the future?
In this workshop, you will be introduced to scientific research on future selves (the person we become as time passes) and explore how technologies such as virtual reality and smartphone apps engage participants with their future selves to stimulate positive behavior change.
Apart from reviewing some of this research, we will also engage in brief, hands-on exercises that help us better connect with our own future self to improve our decision-making in daily life.
Stronger together: building resilience through connection | Rosalinde Spitters
Students who feel socially connected tend to be more resilient. Within an academic program, most student-to-student interactions take place in the classroom and in the surrounding student support structures. As a lecturer or student adviser, you have a direct influence on student well-being. Your approach matters. Small interventions and intentional choices can immediately strengthen a safe learning environment in which students can develop resilience.
This workshop explores how to build a socially safe foundation, the power of a human-centred approach, and engaging practices that foster connection. Collaboration with students and shared ownership are key throughout. In short: a hands-on session on how inclusive, activating and connecting guidance can boost resilience.
Dealing with setbacks: The art of failing | Serge Feldmann
This workshop will be in Dutch, see the Dutch page for more details.
Self-care programme students | Kelly Ziemer
More information to follow, keep an eye on the website!
From tension to ease: regulating stress with breathwork | Suzan Kommers and Livia Benders
In this interactive session, you are invited to step out of the daily flow of work and explore how stress shows up in your body. You will experience how simple breathing techniques can help calm your nervous system and create more clarity and ease.
The session is practical, accessible, and designed for anyone who wants to better listen to their body and is curious about the power of breath. We end with a brief reflection on how these insights may be relevant in your daily work, and possibly in your interactions with students.
How do you support a student who could use a bit more resilience? | Simone Keijsers
In this workshop, we will work with a few simple tips and tricks that you can use when talking to a student whom you suspect might benefit from developing greater resilience. We will not be working with complex models or methods, but with straightforward tools for human-to-human connection. What questions could you ask? What might you say? Of course, we will not just talk about these tools we will also practise using them with one another. Who knows, we might even leave this workshop feeling a bit more resilient ourselves!
Workshop round 2
Building Resilience Through Everyday Teacher–Student Interactions | Tim Mainhard
How do you make a difference in your everyday interactions with students? We explore how everyday interactions between teachers and students can strengthen student resilience. You reflect on your approach to working with students and receive concrete feedback on how to support students more effectively.
Growing Up Together in Society - Youth participation, group formation and resilience | Simone Dobbelaar and Martijn Janse
How can involving young people contribute to group formation and resilience? And how can you apply this in your own practice?
In this workshop, you will discover value of actively involving young people. We will introduce some inspiring examples such as our studies in the Growing Up Together in Society (GUTS) consortium, where research is conducted together with young people on how they grow into adulthood in a complex society, and projects by Stichting Lieve Mark, in which youth participation and group formation are central.
You will then work hands on with a participatory approach to explore how you can meaningfully involve young people and their input in the challenges you encounter in your daily work.
Autonomous Learning | Anouk van der Weiden
How can we help students who often seek certainty and step-by-step guidance in developing the resilience and autonomy they need for their master’s programme and future careers? In this workshop, we share lessons from implementing an autonomous-learning approach in the Psychology bachelor; one that gradually increases students' ownership and freedom of choice within structured assignments, supported by meaningful formative practice and an autonomous learning trajectory.
After a short introduction, you will engage in discussions at themed tables on inspiring contact hours, effective learning activities, and balancing freedom of choice with fair assessment. We invite teachers, academic advisers, and support staff to exchange challenges and transferable ideas, enabling learning from one another.
Dialogue as a powerful tool for connection and resilience | Karin Nijenhuis (in Dutch)
This workshop will be in Dutch, see the Dutch page for more details.
Workshop Self-Compassion: kinder to yourself, more resilient in your work | Jessica Heemkerk and Sanne Weeber (in Dutch)
This workshop will be in Dutch, see the Dutch page for more details.
Social media, digital resilience and how young people navigate online disinformation | Ili Ma
During this interactive workshop we explore how young people navigate information on social media, and their concerns about polarization and disinformation. You will learn what makes adolescents and students particularly vulnerable to misleading content while also highlighting their strengths.
Together, we will reflect on our role and responsibility as educators in fostering digital resilience, critical trust and healthy social connections online. Participants will actively brainstorm concrete strategies and activities to embed these insights into their own courses and broader educational practices.
From tension to ease: regulating stress with breathwork | Suzan Kommers and Livia Benders
In this interactive session, you are invited to step out of the daily flow of work and explore how stress shows up in your body. You will experience how simple breathing techniques can help calm your nervous system and create more clarity and ease.
The session is practical, accessible, and designed for anyone who wants to better listen to their body and is curious about the power of breath. We end with a brief reflection on how these insights may be relevant in your daily work, and possibly in your interactions with students.
Register now to secure your spot
Sign up today!For an impression of the symposium, see the programme for last year's edition.