Would you like to join the next Peer Education Center group at Hitt Húsið Youth Center?
Since launching last spring, the 2025-2026 Peer Education Center group at Hitt Húsið Youth Center has been actively engaged in preventative work with youth. As the current program year winds down, applications are now open for our 2026 summer activities. We welcome all young people ages 16 to 19 with legal residence in Reykjavík to apply for this fun, rewarding, and enriching summer program.
What is the Hitt Húsið Youth Center Peer Education Center?
The Peer Education Center is an education and preventative work program where young people teach and support their peers. Running at Hitt Húsið Youth Center since 1996, the initiative stems from the idea that young people often connect more effectively with one another than adults do.
Peer educators receive thorough training for the role, developing key leadership and communication skills while attending expert talks on issues relevant to youth today. This program offers young people a unique opportunity to build confidence, develop new skills, and make a positive difference in their peers' lives.
Each summer, peer educators visit School of Work and community center groups across Reykjavík to lead sessions featuring team building, games, discussions, and Q&As. Discussions cover topics that matter to young people today, including prejudice, LGBT+ issues, sexuality, boundaries, alcohol and drugs, gambling addiction, and social media.
A year full of highlights
Last summer, peer educators reached around 1,500 young people across the capital area while also delivering sessions for School of Work groups in the Westman Islands, Hella, and Hvolsvöllur.
This winter, the team visited secondary schools across the capital area—including Borgarholtsskóli, Fjölbrautarskólinn í Ármúla, Fjölbrautarskólinn í Breiðholti, Reykjavík Women's Gymnasium, Menntaskólinn við Hamrahlíð, Menntaskólinn við Sund, Verslunarskóli Íslands, and Fjölbrautaskólinn í Mosfellsbæ—to host peer education sessions for new students.
After spending the summer talking with the city's young people, each year's peer educators walk away with a clear picture of what teenagers care about and the challenges they face. Many opportunities followed the summer program. The group took part in various projects, visited Bessastaðir to discuss youth issues with the President of Iceland, met Mayor Heiða Björg at city hall, and organized a successful drug-free street festival supporting a UNICEF emergency fundraiser for children in Gaza.
Throughout the program year, peer educators shared their experiences across multiple platforms, including meetings, conferences, and media appearances. In February, the group traveled to Verbania, Italy, on an Erasmus+ trip to explore local peer education and the situation of young people in Italy while sharing their own experiences.
A great opportunity for young people
Applications for the 2026 Hitt Húsið Youth Center Peer Education Center are now open. We encourage all interested young people to apply here—could you be the next Hitt Húsið Youth Center peer educator?