Introduction: Children and young people’s participation in collective decision-making

Over the past 20 years, children and young people’s participation in decision-making has become part of international, and often national, policy rhetoric. Participation activities have grown apace. These range from bringing children and young people to the international stage — for example, in person to the United Nations (UN) General Assembly Special Session on Children in 2002 or virtually at the International Labour Organization (ILO) and the III Global Conference on Child Labour in 2013 — to the (re)formation of institutional structures — for example, national children’s and youth parliaments, pupil councils in schools and youth forums in local government. Activities also include a host of one-off projects and events, such as conferences, arts-based installations and YouTube clips. Toolkits have proliferated, providing examples of how to engage children and young people productively. Practice has developed, so that participation facilitators use a range of methods — from social media, to ‘creative’ methods like murals or role play, to more traditional consultation and research techniques — to elicit children and young people’s views on matters that affect them. Never before have there been such formal support of children and young people’s participation and so many attempts to make it a reality.