Utrecht University in the Netherlands awarded an honorary doctorate to Professor Linda Theron, from the Department of Educational Psychology in the Faculty of Education at the University of Pretoria.

Prof Theron’s work has been pivotal in shifting global discourse on resilience away from individual-focused models towards a relational and systemic understanding.

The doctorate was conferred in March during Utrecht University’s Dies Natalis celebration.

The award honours Theron’s sustained contribution to advancing a broader and more socially just understanding of resilience, particularly among children and young people exposed to adversity.

Over the past 20 years, her work has consistently challenged the idea that resilience is an individual responsibility, instead highlighting its relational and systemic nature.

In its motivation, Utrecht University’s Dynamics of Youth research unit emphasised that Theron’s research aligns closely with its theme ‘Caring and Connecting’.

The unit acknowledged her leadership in advancing multi-systemic approaches that bring together educators, mental health professionals, policymakers, and communities to create environments in which young people can thrive.

In her acceptance speech, Theron reflected on young people who flourish despite significant challenges, stating that “deprivation, discrimination, disrupted schooling, and climate-related distress do not tell the whole story of their lives”.

She pointed to the importance of supportive relationships and environments, describing resilience as emerging through “caring and connection between young people and their social, cultural, and physical ecologies”.

“The honorary doctorate is a cogent reminder of the ongoing duty to advocate for policy and practices that strengthen the ecologies that create the conditions that enable resilience.”

Although there has been no direct collaboration between Theron and Utrecht University to date, her work has already shaped the thinking of Dynamics of Youth researchers, particularly through her emphasis on co-creating resilience with communities and valuing local and indigenous perspectives.

Theron said she was honoured to receive the doctorate.

“It belongs equally to the young South Africans who respond adaptively to stress-saturated realities and the social, cultural, and physical ecologies that partner in their resilience processes,” she stated.

She also acknowledged the many collaborators, students, and donors across Africa and beyond who continue to advance research grounded in care, connection, and meaningful social change.

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