Centre for Children and Young People's Participation

Description

The Centre for Children and Young People’s Participation, established in 2007, is a research, teaching and networking hub concerned with children and young people’s participation, inclusion and empowerment. It implements a planned programme of research and social action and promote seminars, workshops, conferences and publications. Members focus on bringing about the changes that children and young people seek by building links between children and young people, academics, policymakers and practitioners.

The Centre is directed by and, through the UCLan School of Social Work, Care and Community, together with a board of Associate Directors from the statutory, voluntary and private sectors. These are supported by two research fellows dedicated to the Centre along with twenty-four other staff members who are drawn from across seven schools/sections within UCLan: Social Work Care and Community; Community Health and Midwifery; Sport and Health Sciences; Law; Centre for Excellence in Learning and Teaching; Community Engagement; Film Media and Performance. Seven of these staff have been recruited this year reflecting growing support for The Centre’s interdisciplinary work.

Members’ expertise spans theories and practices of participatory research, crossing the boundaries of practice engagement and theory building, by working alongside children and young people to support them taking on roles as researchers, advisors and co-creators of knowledge. Subjects include children and young people’s lived and social citizenship, global perspectives on children’s participation and childhood, contemporary practice with children and young people, student involvement in children and young people’s participation, and participatory methods and pedagogy, including a variety of creative techniques for conducting and disseminating engaging research findings to other young people, local decision makers, national government ministers and international academic audiences.

The Centre also has twenty associates (15 academic and five expert consultants). They include colleagues from the four nations of the UK and international colleagues with experience of building a culture of child participation in the global south or locally in the North West. Members also collaborate with fellow academics, participation workers and young people in extensive networks within the UK (particularly England and Wales) and internationally (through Eurochild and through leading roles in ICYRNet and the European Sociological Association childhood research network).

Offers funding

No, this infrastructure does not provide funding.

Founding year

2007

Contact details

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University affiliation(s)

University of Central Lancashire
Preston