Topic 1 Definition & Principles
It is important to begin by underlining that Youth Participation is a universally recognized right, protected by the Convention on the Right of the Child, which in its latest version adopted by the United Nations General Assembly in 1989.
Following the Articles of the Convention on the Right of the Child, this presents the basic Principles of Youth Participation:
- Children have the right to give their opinions freely on issues that affect them. Adults should listen and take children seriously.
- Children have the right to share freely with others what they learn, think and feel, by talking, drawing, writing or in any other way unless it harms other people.
- Children can join or set up groups or organizations and they can meet with others, as long as this does not harm other people.
Following the EU’s call for Action on Youth Participation, and taking under consideration the urgency for the climate change issues, the FOOD RESCUE project offers respective frameworks and activities that could be actively used in classes. In details, activities that can be easily used:
- to conduct dialogue and discussions between students.
- to promote the active participation of young students in the democratic life of their communities, and by extend become aware of the importance of the European democratic life.
- to help students to be able to make their voices heard.
- to engage students, teachers and parents in various ways to raise awareness of issues that matter to them and that affect their daily lives (such as food waste related topics).
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