Contribution of Participatory Research with Children and Young People to Policy

Policy agendas currently shape the identity of childhood and children’s role in society. They guide the development and delivery of children’s services across all domains of their life, including health, education and social welfare. An important consideration in developing evidence-based policy is the need to be inclusive of those with lived experience of the issues central to the policy being developed. As such, child and youth policy development and implementation should be informed by the perspectives of children and young people. It not only serves to improve policy but also respects children’s rights and has been shown to promote citizenship and social inclusion and contributes to children’s personal development and social education. This chapter reflects on the value of co-constructing knowledge with children through participatory research to inform policy.