- How to design a participatory process, both in the public administration and in the educational field, in which children and adolescents are the protagonists? The Government of Navarra, with the help of several experts, has drawn up a guide with which it intends to answer this question.
Recognizing the opinion of children and adolescents and moving their decision-making capacity to the front line is not a new claim. On this occasion, the Government of Navarre has stressed the need for these groups, “since the relationship we have historically had with them has not been based on participation”. The government has referred to the 2019 Foral Law on Children, “a pioneering and ambitious participatory process that made it clear that children and adolescents are able to participate in the elaboration of a law.”
There are two published guidelines: one aimed at facilitating participation in the public administration and the other aimed at the educational field. The guide aims to offer tools to channel the proposals and contributions of children and adolescents and to enable the debate, making available material and proposing actions adapted to their development capacities. Guides can be obtained in this link.
Municipal commissions for the participation of children and adolescents
Currently there are five municipal commissions for the participation of children and adolescents in Navarra: Castejón, Cintruénigo, Mendavia, Pamplona and Zizur Mayor. Six other localities are receiving training and advice for the establishment of such commissions. Last March, the young people of these committees met with representatives of the Government of Navarre, Parliament and the municipalities to discuss various issues, including the environment.