What is participation?
The term “participation” as used on this web-site refers to children and young people having their voice heard when decisions are being made that affect them, and being actively involved in decision-making processes.
Participation is a process rather than an event, with varying degrees of involvement from being consulted on a predetermined issue to young people choosing their agenda, making their own decisions and taking them forward. There are a number of models which describe degrees of participation – and you can view two of them here - Hart’s Ladder and Treseder’s Five Degrees of Participation. It is useful to consider which degree of participation is most appropriate and effective in different settings and situations.
In 2004 the Participation Project in the Welsh Assembly Government ran a competition to produce a national definition of participation that would be easy to understand for adults and young people. The winning ‘sound-bite’ was: "Participation means that it is my right to be involved in making decisions, planning and reviewing an action that might affect me. Having a voice, having a choice"
We have also developed National Children and Young People’s Participation Standards in Wales. These are a set of seven standards which help organisations to follow good practice when involving children and young people in decision-making. A Self-assessment tool has also been developed to help organisations evaluate their practice against the Standards, and a toolkit which has been piloted and welcomed in schools in Wales.
