Project number: 101190260, Call reference: CERV-2024-CHILD

Young people and children’s participation in civic decision-making – a pilot programme for change

Current mechanisms for children and young people to actively participate in shaping Europe’s future are inadequate, especially for those from disadvantaged backgrounds. To address this gap, innovative interventions are crucial to empower all young individuals, particularly those from marginalized communities, to contribute to building a more resilient and sustainable European society. However, resistance to change poses a significant obstacle. Traditional behaviour change approaches have often failed across various fields, emphasizing the need for a new paradigm. YOU DECIDE aims to catalyse systemic change by focusing on municipalities, the epicentre of local decision-making, to create opportunities for children and young people to influence their futures. Yet, altering municipal structures alone is insufficient. Collaborating with stakeholders within these systems and scaling up these changes are essential to establish a robust child participation ecosystem across Europe.

Target groups:

• Children and Young people aged 8 to 16, including those with specific needs and vulnerabilities
• Professionals involved in child policy, decision-making, and service delivery
• Professionals working with children, including school staff, administrators and educators
• EU policy and research communities

Objectives

• Revisit and review the state of art in child participation, highlighting best practices
• Identify effective programme design elements through lifeworld analysis involving children and professionals
• Design a capacity building programme for both children and professionals in decision making processes
• Co-create learning and development activities to support children’s active citizenship
• Equip municipality staff and educators with child participation skills
• Implement a child participation change programme within municipalities and educational institutions
• Develop a knowledge exchange platform to foster innovation
• Evaluate the capacity-building, learning and development and change programmes and create an interactive ‘Open Toolkit’ of resources for children and young people and professionals

Expected results

• Enhanced participation skills for children and young people
• Improved child engagement skills for professionals
• Enhanced participation systems in municipalities
• Co-created frameworks, systems, and tools for decision-making
• Increased involvement of children in political life and decision-making
• A more resilient democratic ecosystem

Meet the project partners:

• ORGANIZACION DE ESTADOS IBEROAMERICANOS PARA LA EDUCACION LA CIENCIA Y LA CULTURA – Spain
• MUNICIPIO DE CASCAIS – Portugal
• ASSOCIACAO GODINHELA -INVESTIGACAO E DESENVOLVIMENTO – Portugal
• CENTRUL PENTRU PROMOVAREA INVATARII PERMANENTE TIMISOARA ASOCIATIA – Romania
• ETHNIKO KAI KAPODISTRIAKO PANEPISTIMIO ATHINON – Greece
• SMART BANANAS SOCIETA COOPERATIVA A RESPONSABILITa LIMITATA – Italy