Barcelona: Volem Decidir! Participatory Process for Children and Adolescents within the Framework of the European Capital of Democracy 2024

The process was created with the goal of empowering children and adolescents (C&A) aged 8 to 17 to be aware of their rights and responsibilities, especially the right to participate and influence public matters. They were engaged with a fundamental question, to which they provided an answer: "How do we want children and adolescents to participate in the city?"

More than 700 C&A have proposed and decided on the issues they consider most important and how they want to participate in the city’s affairs. The results of the process include a prioritization of key issues and a set of proposals on how to increase participation of children and adolescents in the city. One of the most notable proposals is the creation of the Children and Adolescents Council, a proposal on which we are currently working.

Volem Decidir! addressed the goal of engaging children and adolescents in a fun and concrete way by creating a methodology based on workshops, forums, and voting that is easily applicable to other processes and areas of participation.

Volem Decidir! has created its own methodology that goes beyond the educational center and integrates into the community through the use of materials that allow its autonomous execution and the organization of territorial children’s assemblies for decision-making. It is an open, inclusive, and mobilizing methodology, partly self-organized, that can be replicated in multiple decision-making contexts.

Other learnings from this process include the fact that child participation must promote inclusion and diversity, fostering intergenerational dialogue with all members of the community. It should help develop empathy and establish constructive dialogues to achieve collective well-being. Similarly, it is essential that children feel listened to with attention and respect by the rest of society, and that their proposals are valued and properly argued, with clear explanations for their acceptance or rejection, in a way that is understandable and recognizable.

Learn more about:  https://www.decidim.barcelona/processes/volem-decidir  

https://www.oidp.net/docs/repo/doc1860.pdf