Speaker
Description
Authors: Pall Rikhardsson, Patricia Ros (Regional Director of Planet Youth in Spain)
Planet Youth is an evidence-based, community-led prevention model that has its roots in Iceland’s successful public health approach to reducing substance use among adolescents. Designed as a universal and primary prevention strategy, Planet Youth emphasizes long-term, sustainable improvements in youth well-being through collaborative, data-informed action. The model brings together stakeholders across sectors—including education, healthcare, social services, municipal leadership, families, and the wider community—aligning closely with the goals of this year’s conference theme: The prevention continuum: Implications for research and practice.
This presentation explores how Planet Youth exemplifies an interdisciplinary and intersectoral framework for prevention, combining insights from social science, public health, education, and governance. We will present international implementation experiences and outcome data, illustrating how the model bridges the gap between research and real-world practice. Special focus will be placed on the role of data in fostering shared learning, guiding local policy, and enhancing practitioner capacity, thereby strengthening the prevention infrastructure.
The discussion will reflect on how Planet Youth contributes to the broader prevention continuum, with particular emphasis on primary prevention and health promotion. We will also examine the implications for prevention education and training, proposing ways in which such integrated models can raise the quality and relevance of training for the next generation of prevention scientists and practitioners in Europe.
This presentation will share insights from five years of Planet Youth implementation in Catalonia, highlighting how the model has been adapted and integrated into local systems. We will present data-driven results that demonstrate changes in key risk and protective factors, as well as reductions in adolescent substance use. The Catalonian experience illustrates how interdisciplinary collaboration and strong community engagement can lead to measurable public health improvements.
| Conflict of interest | There aren't any potential conflict of interest |
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