Paper short abstract:

Young people in the lead: Global Young Researchers designing, implementing, and analysing their own research in local contexts, as part of a global advocacy-oriented research project on the enabling environment for child and youth development in the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

Paper long abstract:

From Rhetoric to Action: Towards an Enabling Environment for Child and Youth Development in the Sustainable Development Goals is a report that investigates current conditions for young people at the beginning of the new global development agenda, including "Considerations for Action". The research aimed to achieve a balance between understanding global trends in child and youth development, and capturing the experiences and voices of young people and those who work with them at the local level. It did this by using a youth-led participatory approach as the centerpiece of the research, alongside a global survey, and case studies on children and youth organisations.

18 Global Young Researchers took the lead in designing, undertaking and analysing a research topic of their choice relating to the thematic focuses of participation, protection or livelihoods. This paper explores this youth-led participatory research process within the context of Participatory Action Research (PAR) and its conceptualisations in recent literature. It critically reflects on the youth-led research component of From Rhetoric to Action, providing lessons learned for future projects, and provides insights on the PAR methodology when scaled up for the purposes of global research.

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