Thirty-eight ISRD colleagues from 25 countries attended the conference “Less Social Bonding, More Problems? An International Perspective on the Behavior of Young People” sponsored by the Knowledge Platform Integration and Society of the Verwey-Jonker Institute in Amersfoort, the Netherlands June 8 and 9.

The program on June 8 included plenary talks based on the ISRD3 project by Majone Steketee (Director of the Verwey-Jonker Institute), Mike Hough (Birkbeck, University of London) and Ineke Haen Marshall (Northeastern University, USA).  This was followed by two workshops with presentations by Anastasiia Monnet Lukash & Martin Killias, Olga Siegmunt, Lieven Pauwels & Ann De Buck, Gebariele Rocca, Uberto Gatti, Paromita Chattoraj, Jiri Burianek, and Dirk Enzmann, Ilka Kammigan & Lieven Pauwels. The first day concluded with a joint dinner in picturesque Amersfoort.

The second day of the conference started with a session where all present reported on their experiences while doing the survey, discussed findings, and/or challenges and possible solutions.  It was most interesting to hear the wide diversity of observations and experiences from our colleagues from across the globe. Since working with the merged data set is quite complex, Dirk Enzmann conducted a ‘hands on’ workshop on how to deal with “tricky data”.   It is clear that there is a need for explicit suggestions about how to work with the merged data set, and the ISRD SC is in the process of providing this through a Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) section on the ISRD website isrdstudy.org/faqs/   The conference concluded with lunch and a discussion about the potential of launching ISRD4 (tentatively in 2020).  And of course, with a picture of the participants!  It was a most energizing and informative meeting, with the opportunity for seeing old friends and meeting new members of the ISRD network.   Many thanks to Majone Steketee for making this meeting possible!