What is Youth Participatory Action Research (YPAR)?
YPAR can be defined as:
“Youth participatory action research (or YPAR) is a common form of participatory action research that is designed and conducted by youth leaders, typically working in collaboration with adult mentors. While youth participatory action research utilizes the same general methods and approaches as adult-led forms of participatory action research, adult mentors usually provide developmentally appropriate guidance and support to the youth researchers leading the research process.” (https://organizingengagement.org/models/participatory-action-research-and-evaluation/)
Further, you may wonder:
What is Participatory Action Research (PAR)?
Peter Reason and Hilary Bradbury created one of the most influential definitions of participatory action research:
“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.” (https://organizingengagement.org/models/participatory-action-research-and-evaluation/)
Why is YPAR so important? What does YPAR have to do with Climate Justice and Child and Youth Rights?
From the inextricably linked climate emergency and biodiversity crisis – visible in historic wildfires, drought, hurricanes, and the precipitous decline in wildlife populations linked to habitat loss and degradation – to air and water pollution, deforestation, mining, pesticides, and waste, the breadth and diversity of environmental challenges confronting North America is both astounding and sobering. All of these issues are tied to fundamental inequities relating to race, ethnicity, class, gender, sexual orientation, age, and other bases. Social, racial, and environmental justice are deeply connected, as the most disadvantaged populations are those most affected by environmental catastrophes and the most marginalized in public policy decision-making.
NO GROUP IS MORE VULNERABLE TO THESE FORMS OF ENVIRONMENTAL HARMS AND INJUSTICES THAN CHILDREN AND YOUNG PEOPLE, ESPECIALLY THOSE FROM ALREADY DISPROPORTIONATELY BURDENED COMMUNITIES. And no group will be more affected by the unravelling of core elements of the natural environment on which all life depends.
At the same time, children and youth have important perspectives, expertise, and agency to be powerful change agents. A human right to a healthy environment would bring together and protect these elements – defined as the right to breathe clean air, a safe climate, clean water, and adequate sanitation, healthy ecosystems, non-toxic environments, and healthy and sustainably produced food. The right should also encompass participation rights, including the rights to environmental education and information, freedom of expression and assembly, including to defend the environment, to engage in the environmental policy dialogue, and to access remedies for environment-related harm. A healthy environment means that these rights are upheld, while centering efforts to address systemic injustices.