Evaluation of child participation in the European Union

It is not only in developing countries where children are denied the opportunity to voice their concerns and be actively involved in all aspects of their own lives. This is also the situation for many children across the 28 members states of the European Union.

In 2012, the Legal Directorate of the European Commission commissioned a consortium led by Ecorys to assess how successfully EU member states are implementing Article 12 of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, which promotes child participation. The other consortium partners were the University of the West of England and Child to Child.

The purpose of the study was to: identify and showcase good practice on child participation in the EU; draft practical guidelines for child participation at local, regional, national and European levels; and map legislation, policy and practice across the 28 member states. To meet these requirements, data was collected from across all 28 European Union member states and EU-level actions on child participation were investigated, including the work of the European Commission, other EU institutions and NGOs.

What did we do?

We contributed to the study by designing and managing child-led participatory projects to ensure that children’s voices were heard! In 2013, 111 researchers from 11 organisations  in England, the Netherlands, Croatia, Greece and Poland worked with 628 children exploring their experience and understanding of the policy and practice of children’s participation.

What have we achieved?

The final report – including a child friendly version – can be found here: http://bookshop.europa.eu/en/evaluation-of-legislation-policy-and-practice-of-child-participation-in-the-european-union-eu–pbDS0514101/.

 The photos above have been taken by the children participating in the research. See here a short video filmed by a child participant.