Children, Youth and Environments Journal, Vol. 17, No.1

This issue of Children, Youth and Environments Journal focuses on:

• Southeast Asia, East Asia and the Pacific;
• South and Central Asia; and
• Japan

The theme of this series of issues of the journal is participatory research. It gathers work from over 37 countries and includes the voices of scholars, practitioners and the young people on whom it is focused.

Guest editor Joachim Theis of the Southeast Asia, East Asia and the Pacific section gives regional context in his introduction with this statement: "Close to one third of the world’s children and young people live in East Asia, Southeast Asia and the Pacific." He adds the perspective that children's participation in the labour market of several rapidly expanding economies is high, limiting limiting political activity, hampering the work of academics of certain economic groups, and infringing on social activities. Changing needs of the workforce are also demanding changes in academics and training, sometimes resulting in socio-cultural changes, e.g. teacher-student roles.

In other Asian countries, such as the Philippines, democratic participation is high, as is press freedom, fostering a diverse civil society which can offer opportunity for children's participation. He suggests that most countries fall somewhere on a spectrum between the Philippines and North Korea or Myranmar, "where opportunities for child and youth participation are highly circumscribed." Pacific nations differ in having high youth unemployment and academic training for rarely obtainable white-collar professions, resulting in some recent disturbances by young people.

Given this diversity within the region, the editor cautions that this collection of articles does not provide a comprehensive overview, especially in light of the fact that most contributions are from international agencies. "As a result, much of what has been documented about child and youth participation in this region reflects the experiences and priorities of the agencies and individuals who do, or commission, the writing rather than the experiences of community workers or, indeed of children themselves. Despite these limitations, the papers presented here offer a critical appraisal of a wide range of experiences with children’s participation in this fast-changing region."

Articles and reports include themes of child punishment, facilitated participation of children, including critiques of their participation in conferences, and adult-child power relationships in participation.

A second focus section on South and Central Asia is introduced by editors Claire O'Kane and Ravi Karkara. The following is an excerpt: "This collection of papers brings together a critique of child participation practice from the South and Central Asia region. Drawing upon three papers (Chatterjee, Evans, Jensen) and three field reports (Lolichen, O’Kane, Pradhan) from varied settings in Afghanistan, Bangladesh, India and Nepal, it explores the ideology underpinning child participation work, including changing paradigms of childhood, and highlights a series of critical issues including diversity, power, ethics, representation, sustainability and impact assessment. The importance of working with children in this wider context ensures attention to broader socio-cultural, political and economic issues such as poverty, child work, conflict and displacement."

A third section on Japan is introduced by Isami Kinoshita, who states that child participation is growing due to changes in municipal policies related to the national ratification of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC), and a progressive citizen movement that calls for greater public participation in general. He recognises six examples of this trend: Machizukuri (community development and neighbourhood improvement), environmental education, synthetic experiential learning, the growth of free schools, the creation of new kinds of gathering places for youth, and direct attempts by the government to fulfill the goal of giving children a voice. Reports included in this section cover child participation at a play centre in a shopping area and a role play project where children assume adult roles to enable better participation in society in the future.