Welcome, all!
Thank you for your interest in sharing your thoughts and perspectives on Climate Justice, Child and Youth Rights, and Youth Participatory Action Research (YPAR).
This site was originally designed to be a part of the North America Consultation on the Right of Children and Youth to a Healthy Environment: Building an Agenda for Justice, Equity and Empowerment.
In 2021, youth engaged in their own research projects to feed into and support the North American Consultation hosted by the UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights and the Environment. We were excited about this project and proud that it supported the work to create CRC/C/GC/26: General comment No. 26 (2023) on children’s rights and the environment with a special focus on climate change. We hope this work can continue well into the future and as such we are excited that you have joined us now to learn about the fundamentals of YPAR.
Who are we?
We are part of a coalition of leading children’s rights academics and participatory researchers. We are collaborating to bring the voice of youth to the forefront in the fight for climate justice.
This initiative was part of the 2021 lead-up to the North American Phoenix Consultation, organized by the David Suzuki Foundation, the Children’s Environmental Rights Initiative, the International Institute for Child Rights and Development and affiliated with Royal Roads University.
To read more about our team, check out the ‘About Us’ section.
What is Youth Participatory Action Research (YPAR)?
“Action research is a participatory process concerned with developing practical knowing in the pursuit of worthwhile human purposes. It seeks to bring together action and reflection, theory and practice, in participation with others, in the pursuit of practical solutions to issues of pressing concern to people, and more generally the flourishing of individual persons and their communities.”
By: Peter Reason and Hilary Bradbury, https://organizingengagement.org/models/participatory-action-research-and-evaluation/
What did this event have to do with YPAR?
This project supported youth to develop skills in participatory research and data analysis by hosting virtual training using synchronous and asynchronous engagement methods with young climate activists on PAR methodologies and data analysis.
Working with their peers’ input to an online platform, youth participants engaged in data analysis and the generation of preparatory documents for a North American Consultation on a Child’s Right to a Healthy Environment for the UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights and the Environment.
This website continues to be open so that anyone is welcome to explore the ideas for conducting YPAR on the site. We are also excited to be continuing work with Mexican youth in 2025-2026.
What is our goal?
It is our goal that young people and their allies will be empowered to use this opportunity to build relationships that link local, national and international levels and foster intergenerational dialogue and collaboratively plan follow-up actions, next steps, and initiatives that directly nurture the momentum of the youth-led climate and environmental movement.
As well, key findings from this unique and rich exchange will be captured in a regional report to the United Nations, providing a framework for further joint advocacy initiatives at the regional level, and contributing to CERI’s broader mission under the auspices of the UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights and the Environment to shape and secure international recognition by States of a Global Charter on Children’s Rights and the Environment.
