From 20 to 24 August, four of us gathered in Stockholm for the scheduled Transnational Meeting of our project Online Safety: Protecting Teenagers from Antisocial Behaviour on Social Media (Project No: 2024-1-NL02-KA210-YOU-000254138).

Our wise senior colleagues had warned us: “Sweden isn’t exactly tropical. Don’t wait too long to visit, come in the summer or you’ll freeze.” 

We listened. And yes, it was the right decision. But… we still froze anyway 😊. 

Why on earth aren’t umbrellas sold on every corner in Sweden? In the Netherlands, they’re literally everywhere!

Luckily, while the air outside was crisp, the welcome we received was nothing but warm. We were treated to true Swedish hospitality and even one fika (that magical Swedish ritual of coffee/thee + cake + endless conversation).

The Dutch team was represented by FENAN Consulting and MySociety with three delegates, and from Sweden we were joined by More Mosaic. Together, we managed to cover practically all the global stages of our project, while still finding time to dive headfirst into the cultural treasures of Stockholm.

The Vasa Museum (by the way, do you know why the mighty Vasa ship sank on its very first voyage?), the ABBA Museum (yes, we danced, no, we didn’t sing), the Nobel Prize Museum, Skansen open-air museum, countless ferry rides weaving between Stockholm’s islands and equally countless metro rides zigzagging through its districts/ We did it all! We got tired, but oh, the impressions were worth it!

Stockholm’s teenagers won us over with their bold fashion and hairstyles, while the city’s clouds deserve their own art exhibition, in full 10D .

During the official part of our meeting on 21 August, we reviewed the progress made since the last gathering and shared reflections on the youth workshop organized in Sweden, including feedback and key takeaways. We also rolled up our sleeves to plan the next activities: possibly another short training session for teenagers on safe social media behavior, our educational program to be developed in four languages, the creation of a professional network on online safety, and, of course, dissemination efforts to spread the word about our work.

We only wish there were more than two transnational meetings planned for this project, there’s so much more we’d love to see, discuss, and explore. But for now, we’re grateful.

Many thanks to More Mosaic for having us in Stockholm!

See you later, lovely Stockholm! Duty calls, and it’s back to work for us.