Many of the Pro-research and development group had the joy of being able to travel to Vilnius for the 8th PBS Europe Hybrid Research Symposium 14th-15th October 2026. We were able to meet many international colleagues whom we rarely get to see face-to-face. We also met many new practitioners and researchers passionate about supporting the development of behavioural skills in schools and Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC).
We had the opportunity of visiting an ECEC unit that provides care, education and support for children with special educational needs. We also visted a local primary school. The staff at the ECEC unit and the school are implementing Positive Behaviour Support (PBS) and were very welcoming. They were very generous with their time and information about their work in general. We also got to learn a lot about how staff in Lithuania are adapting the PBS framework to their needs and contexts.
Contributions to the PBS Europe Research Symposium
Our research group participated in and contributed to the PBS Europe Hybrid Research Symposium in many ways. Vesa Närhi took on various responsibilities both ahead of the event and during it as part of his role as President of the PBS Europe Network. Henrik Husberg delivered a presentation on different ways of rating behaviour in ECEC. Christina Sjöström and Annika Borgström contributed with a poster presentation on the collaborative consultation model Hurtig. PBS related research from Finland was represented also by two doctoral researchers from the Jyväskylä InterLearn Centre of Excellence. Valtteri Eskola presented a paper on predictors of fidelity for an intervention for classroom management and Emmi Pelkonen presented a poster on student evaluations of behavioural climate in the classroom.
Some of us also contributed to the local practitioners’ event organised concurrently with the symposium. Henrik Husberg delivered a workshop on reward systems in PBS practice. Anne Karhu and Mika Paananen delivered a workshop on the Check-in Check-out model for teachers. Following the symposium, Hannu Savolainen and Pirjo Savolainen continued to Vytautas Magnus University where Hannu gave a talk.
The days were filled with exciting and interesting conversations on various aspects of PBS. We had the opportunity of networking widely and look forward to progressing collaborations with international colleagues.
We are very grateful to all the organisers for a well organised event and for their warm hospitality. We sincerely hope to be able to attend the event again next year!
