Child participation in civic life has been widely acknowledged as one of the most important dimensions of children’s rights. It is defined as children (individually and/or collectively) 
engaging with opportunities to form and express their views and to influence matters that concern them directly and indirectly. The JuniorXpress project addresses this critical contemporary European challenge in the field of the rights of the child, namely children’s inclusive and meaningful participation in civic and political life at a local level.
Addressing the above challenges, the JuniorXpress project seeks to capitalize on the potential of the existing Greek Municipal Councils as enablers of equal, meaningful and inclusive child participation in civic and political life at a city level, accordingly:
- by developing a grounded roadmap for the operation of a youth-led civic engagement mechanism for enhanced child participation in local decision-making,
- by building a critical mass of youth civic coaches,
- by testing a youth-led civic coaching ecosystem creating safe space for 150 children (student and vulnerable girls and boys) as local government’s shareholders, in 6 Greek Municipalities, through regular consultation, role modeling, p2p mentoring and child-led civic projects, and assessing impact,
- by challenging 15 Greek municipalities, 6 participating in the project and 9 supporting it, from a child rights perspective thought an evidence-based youth-led knowledge transfer on child owned local governance,
- by disseminating the message of mandated children’s ownership to local decision-making processes, raising awareness on child equality.
Project Τitle: JuniorXpress: A youth-led civic coaching driver for enhanced child-owned local governance
Project Duration: 2023-2025
Project URL: https://www.eetaa.gr/category/evropaika-erga-eetaa/juniorxpress/
Project Framework & Funding: Citizens, Equality, Rights and Values Programme (CERV) – 373,999.34 €
Scientific coordinator (UNIWA): Asimopoulos Ch., Professor of Social Work in Mental Health
Consortium – Partners: Hellenic Agency for Local Development and Local Government (Project Coordinator), ActionAid Hellas, The Smile of the Child, Municipalities of Larissa, Paggaio, Kavala, Thermi, Volvi, Community Enterprise of Thessaloniki (KEDITH) and Research Laboratory in Counselling, Psychosocial Support and Community Interventions of the Department of Social Work University of West Attica.
Research Publications
Dedotsi S., Martinaki S., Chatzipemou Th., Vasileiou K., Maniadaki K., Christoula E., Asimopoulos Ch. (2025) Children’s participation in local governance in Greece: Child and youth council members’ views and experiences, Comunitania International Journal of Social Work and Social Sciences, (Accepted for publication).
Results
JuniorXpress: Primary and secondary research findings report (https://www.eetaa.gr/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/erevna_pediou-1.pdf)
