Child and youth participation in the municipality. Discourses and political strategies in Andalusia, Catalonia and Galicia

Abstract

INTRODUCTION. Behind the political agenda for the promotion of child participation in the municipality underlie the political discourses and the socioeducational experiences developed for the projection of citizenship of children and adolescence (NNyA) in the territory. Beyond the referential frameworks from which the local government configures this exercise, its role as an educational agency to train citizens in participation and to strengthen a model of governance and democratic quality service in each territory iskey. Our aim is to identify the political discourses on the participation and citizenshipin nine municipalities in the autonomous communities of Andalusia, Catalonia and Galicia, and the strategies developed in this area from the different areas of the Administration. METHOD. The research follows a qualitative approach through semi-structured interviews with thirty municipal elected officials (CEs) and technical figures (FT) responsible for the social participation of children and young people in the contexts analysed. RESULTS. The findings describe the contextualisation of the municipalities with regard to the projection of children’s citizenship and its evolution up to the present time. They also reveal the value given to the participation of children and adolescents and how it is visualized envisioned in the framework of participation policies, without forgetting the reference frameworks from which the local government configures the citizenship of children in the analysed territories. DISCUSSION. The contributions of the research to advance in a participatory ecosystem of children and adolescents in the municipality that makes it possible to crystallise a representation of these groups as capable citizens committed to their environment stand out.