A practitioner's Perspective on Child participation

Although participation is a democratic right with several benefits, many social systems world over continue to grapple with how to genuinely involve people, especially children in decision-making processes. However, the Ombudsman for Children in Norway (Barneombudet) is finding innovative ways to involve children through consultative fora known as 'Expert meetings and groups'. By engaging adult facilitators, this book explores questions regarding the rationale, character and significance of these initiatives as well as bottlenecks to their effectiveness and reveals that while Expert meetings and groups are a good start in rethinking the narrative on children's competencies and therefore breaking barriers to their participation, more should be done to ensure that the views generated help to influence more child friendly decisions and spur greater enthusiasm to involve children. Ultimately, the author argues that the real fulfillment of Article 12 of the CRC goes beyond ad hoc initiatives to a routine democratic engagement between adults and children in everyday contexts. Policymakers, practitioners and academics interested in child participation will enjoy reading this book.