Wellbeing Week is 9-13 March.
Wellbeing Week is next week, 9th-13th March. It is held across the entire capital region in collaboration with the municipalities, along with the Capital Region Health Service, the Capital Region Police, further education colleges and sports federations, which together form the Capital Region's Well-being Council. Numerous events take place in each school and municipality during Well-being Week.
Our children get appropriate help
All children have the right to flourish and get the help they need to face life's challenges. The Well-being of Children Act is designed to ensure that children have access to the right support at the right time.
Here in Hafnarfjörður, nine co-ordinators have been appointed on 20-75% staff ratios to the state-run primary schools to ensure well-being. Their role is clear and in accordance with the law. They are to be a guide for parents and children in the jungle of resources, or in specialist terminology; integrating services for the well-being of children. They provide the family with information about services, ensure access to an initial assessment, support the integration of services at the first level, and forward information if integration of services at a second level is required.
Mayor Valdimar Víðisson says that we all want our children to have the opportunity to flourish, whatever challenges are going on. „With these resources and stronger collaboration, we are creating an environment where intervention is made earlier and families feel that they are being listened to and that action is being taken.“
- A new landing page with all the information has been launched. There you can find out about the various resources. See here.
Collaboration of experts for the children
Erla Björg Rúnarsdóttir, Head of the Integrated Children's and Young People's Services department, says that success requires close cooperation between the professionals involved.
„We need to get to know each other better and intertwine all of our professional knowledge. We are working towards reaching children and their families as quickly as possible.“ It is not enough to know the children each person works with; staff also need to know one another and see and understand what other specialists bring to the table. „The children are at the centre and the heart of the system; we, the specialists, are to nurture them and ensure that the children's hearts beat correctly and in time with the community.“
Erla says an implementation group is now working to ensure that staff are aware of the strengths in each resource. Success teams are in the schools. „We work with people and always have to do our best with each and every one.“
Erla encourages parents to look at the City of Hafnarfjörður's list of resources. „Parents can then apply for the service via My Pages on the City of Hafnarfjörður's website. Let's do this together. That's the best way to work.“
A great deal of preparation
A great deal of preparation has been undertaken within the municipality to ensure that the children's needs are met. Hafnarfjörður is the first municipality to appoint well-being coordinators at a higher ratio in all its primary schools. The town is therefore contributing funds, alongside those from the state, to support the implementation of the Act on Integrated Services for the Well-being of Children.
Here in Hafnarfjörður, the focus during Well-being Week will be on introducing the municipality's resources and well-being contacts. The Municipality of Hafnarfjörður has placed an emphasis on contacts this school year and has been working to strengthen their roles. A variety of presentations will be held in the schools, where pupils, parents and staff will be introduced to the role of the well-being liaison. The local authority has had posters and a leaflet designed, and the emphasis will be on putting them up and distributing them.
Capital Region Well-being Week 2026 – Collaboration for the benefit of children
The municipalities of the Capital Region – Hafnarfjörður, Reykjavík, Kópavogur, Garðabær, Mosfellsbær, Seltjarnarnesbær and Kjós – together with the Capital Region Health Service, the Capital Region Police, the upper secondary schools and the sports regions, which together form the Capital Region's Well-being Council, are organising a joint Well-being Week from 9–13 March 2026.
The aim of the week is to highlight the importance of a coordinated effort by all those who work with children and young people and to promote the positive developments that have occurred following the passing of the Well-being of Children and Young People Act. The Act introduced a new approach, placing the child at the heart of the system and ensuring that services and support for them are integrated across different systems.
Children's well-being cannot be guaranteed without active cooperation. It is the shared responsibility of all those involved in children's lives to be vigilant, to respond in a timely manner, and to ensure that matters are steered in the right direction. With clearer procedures and a formal consultation forum through the Capital Region's Well-being Council, a stronger foundation has been created for targeted collaboration – where no single party works alone, but rather collaborates on comprehensive solutions for the child's benefit.
