Mid Sweden University

The practical approaches to pursuing youth well-being and social justice are evolving, with distinct approaches such as co-creation gaining traction in the public sector (Ansell & Torfing, 2021; Henson, 2019). However, there is also a critique arguing the need for radical attention to more relational approaches advocating for relational welfare, which focuses on the relationships between youth and the welfare state, as well as on the well-being of the ecosystem as an interdependent living system (Cottam, 2018; Helne & Hirvilammi, 2015; Heimburg & Ness, 2021).

Relational welfare is then described as a radical change in which relational bonds should serve as a starting point for promo-ting health and well-being (Cottam, 2018). Consequently, a transformative change in youth well-being is bound by relationships, and these relations-hips are the core of the fluid and dynamic process of co-creating well-being. As stressed by Heimburg and Ness (2021), a significant body of research supports this notion, suggesting that loving and supportive relationships are the most vital of all social determinants for achieving health and well-being (Antonovsky, 1987; Ersoy, 2017; Prilleltensky, 2005).

In addition, the quality of relationships between public service users and public servants (i.e., in therapy or in kindergarten or other school settings) tends to be the most important factor for successful outcomes such as learning and well-being (Davidson, 2011; Lund & Winslade, 2018). A relational shift also stretches beyond our human relations, as stressed by Helne and Hirvilammi (2015). Sustainability and well-being can in fact be seen as twin concepts, as human well-being is enabled by the health of the ecosystems in which we participate.

The present ecological crisis and the well-being crisis are strongly associated with (or even caused by) the human exceptionalism paradigm, in which nature is considered predominantly as a resource basis for human consumption. The relational paradigm then takes into account and respects both the social bonds bet-ween individuals and the relationship between humans and nature (see, for example, Gergen, 2009). The concept of “right relationships” central to many Indigenous cultures might be an inspiration and appropriate term for this ideal of relating. It is a mode of being that is grounded in Indigenous ontologies characterised by relationality and reciprocity among both human and non-human relatives (Gram-Hanssen et al., 2022). But what exactly does “right relationships” mean when co-creating youth well-being, and how might we design, facilitate it, and cultivate it in practice?

The purpose of this chapter is to explore how a relational perspective on well-being and welfare can enrich the understanding of, and reveal new potentials for improving, youth involvement.