2025 Award "Best Practice in Citizen Participation"

Once upon a time, in the municipality of Santa Lucía de Tirajana, there was a special group of children who were part of the Local Childhood and Adolescence Council (CLIA). This council was not like any other: it was made up of young people committed to making their community a better place, where all voices were heard, even the smallest ones.

One day, while working on the II Childhood and Adolescence Plan, they encountered a big problem. Although the plan was full of important ideas and good intentions, it was written in language that was too complicated. The words seemed to get tangled in long and difficult sentences. “How are we supposed to understand this?” they asked. And even more so, “how will other children or even people from other cultures who don’t know the language well understand it?”

Far from giving up, the children of CLIA decided that this barrier wouldn’t stop them. They turned their frustration into action and set themselves an ambitious goal: to adapt the plan into clear, simple, and accessible language. They wanted any child to be able to read it and understand it, no matter their age, culture, or language proficiency.

Thus began an adventure of many hours of collaborative work, where they analyzed, debated, and, above all, put themselves in the shoes of other young people. Paragraph by paragraph, page by page, they transformed the original plan into an accessible and friendly document, proving that inclusion can start with words.

But they didn’t stop there. They knew that a document has no impact if it doesn’t reach the people. They designed an attractive format and took it to schools, neighborhoods, and community spaces. They even shared it with families and the educational community because they understood that children’s rights are everyone’s responsibility.

In the end, this project not only helped translate a document; it transformed the way children in Santa Lucía de Tirajana participated in public life. It served as an example that children’s participation is not symbolic but a real tool for change. Furthermore, they showed that this model can be replicated anywhere, adapting it to other regulations, ordinances, or policies that need to be more inclusive.

When space is given for children to lead and provided with tools to understand, they can be the true protagonists of social transformation.

• https://www.santaluciagc.com/modules.php?mod=portal&file=ver_gen&id=TkRrek1BPT0=  (External link)
• II Childhood and Adolescence Plan (External link)
• annex (External link)

(External link)