Two weeks ago, the most exciting conference for our MSCA Participate fellows happened – World Anti-Bullying Forum 2025. This year it took place in Norway and was hosted by the Norwegian Centre for Learning Environment and Behavioural Research in Education at the University of Stavanger (UiS).
The World Anti-Bullying Forum, initiated by Swedish NGO Friends in 2017, is more than a regular conference: it is a global platform that unites researchers, policymakers, and practitioners to prevent bullying and violence against children. Through biannual meetings and knowledge-sharing, the forum fosters inclusive, research-based strategies to address bullying, emphasizing respect, empathy and sustainable changes for all children.
Over the three days, we were immersed in a dynamic mix of keynotes, symposia, workshops, and poster sessions that offered diverse perspectives on (cyber)bullying as a complex global issue influenced by cultural norms, social dynamics, and individual experiences.
Doctoral candidates from the MSCA Participate project had two symposiums, and we’d like to talk in detail about the second one. Six of us, Shan Hu, Isabel Machado Da Silva, Anastasiia Petrova, Deniz Celikoglu, Giorgia Scuderi and Kainaat Maqbool, presented findings in the symposium with a title “The complex contextualisation of (cyber)bullying: insights from different theoretical and methodological approaches”. The chairperson was Audrey Bryan.
Even though the symposium took place on the very last day in the morning, we still had a very thoughtful session. We started the symposium with Shan Hu’s advanced quantitative research about within-country inconsistencies of (cyber)bullying prevalence in cross-national datasets, HBSC and EU Kids online. After that Isabel talked about the way socio-economic contexts can shape young people’s understanding of (cyber)bullying across physical and digital worlds: she particularly focused on one of the schools from her ethnographical research. The next one was Anastasiia’s quantitative work about advice parents give to their children in case of (cyber)bullying perpetration and victimisation and the way it differs among mothers and fathers. Then Deniz and Giorgia presented several cases from their separate qualitative research depicting parents´ situated experiences with gendered discourses about their children’s involvement in online bullying. Last but not least was Kainaat’s presentation about (de)construction of bullying as a phenomenon in communities of practice, and she specifically talked about black culture and Afrophobia through her qualitative research work.
The symposium ended up as a very fruitful discussion about the way (cyber)bullying as a term can be (de)constructed and contextualised through different types of research. We had all different examples, – ethnography, interviews, photovoice, quantitative approach – and it all gives us an opportunity to understand (cyber)bullying differently and advance our research.
One of the main take-home messages for me (Anastasiia Petrova) was that we truly need various strategies and methodologies in the research because bullying doesn’t exist in a vacuum: it is a complex phenomenon that can change and take new forms in a matter of days and can be influenced by a huge number of factors. Moreover, we as researchers have to expand our research horizons and explore the way bullying exists in other cultures because it is a worldwide issue, and thus it can’t be simply measured by one word and one definition.
WABF was a very inspiring event for me. I met bright and passionate researchers, uncovered new topics for myself and experienced joy of being around of such knowledgeable community of experts.
For me (Shan Hu), one of the most enlightening sessions was the expert panel “The Scientific State of Bullying: What We Know and What Needs Further Research”, presented by leading scholars Anthony Volk, Christina Salmivalli, Dorothy Espelage, René Veenstra, Tracy Vaillancourt, and Wendy Craig. Their discussion offered a comprehensive, critical overview of where the field currently stands and what gaps still need to be addressed. This panel, among many others, emphasized how bullying research benefits from interdisciplinary dialogue and methodological diversity.
Equally inspiring was the keynote by my supervisor, Professor Dagmar Strohmeier, whose research on teacher bullying addressed a topic that is often overlooked yet deeply important. I found it both eye-opening and brave, as it shed light on a taboo issue that students clearly experience but society rarely discusses. It reminded me of the importance of addressing power dynamics in all forms of bullying prevention. I also found the keynote by Professor Insoo Oh particularly compelling, especially his focus on the socio-cultural factors influencing bullying in East Asia, which are often underexplored in Western literature, and the Happy Tree program, which emphasizes the roles of bystanders and upstanders. These keynotes, along with our own presentation in the symposium emphasized that addressing bullying effectively requires not just robust data, but also the humility to listen across contexts.
I had the pleasure of speaking with Sheldahy, a social worker from the Boys’ and Girls’ Clubs Association (BGCA), who is directly involved in the The Jockey Club “Love & Respect” School Empowerment Programme (a large-scale, whole-school anti-bullying initiative based in Hong Kong). She expressed genuine appreciation for the research presented by the Norwegian Learning Center on bullying in early childhood, noting its relevance to her work in practice. Another memorable moment was my conversation with Professor Ping Ren, a researcher deeply engaged in bullying studies in China. She shared that she was surprised by the level of attention given to cyberbullying throughout the forum, which made her reflect on how limited the data on this topic currently is in China. Motivated by these insights, she expressed a strong intention to expand the national research base on cyberbullying after returning home. Both conversations reminded me how valuable international academic exchanges can be in shaping new research directions and building bridges between scholarship and practice across countries.
I was also inspired by the workshop led by Bjørn Olav Larssen and Eirin Anita Annamo on the second day, titled “The need for a new (and) ontological understanding of bullying and anti-bullying”. They challenged participants to rethink bullying not just as harmful acts, but as the absence of positive relationships, what occurs when respect, empathy, and mutual understanding are missing. This ontological shift framed bullying as a relational void, emphasizing that preventing it requires more than stopping aggression, it means actively fostering social connections and inclusive environments.
As a member of University of Stavanger and a volunteer on the second day of the Forum, I was especially happy to hear so many participants praise how well the event was organized. As early-career researchers, we’re truly grateful for the opportunity to present, connect, and learn in such a professionally enriching and internationally diverse environment.
Anastasiia Petrova & Shan Hu
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