Young Children’s Rights
Convenors
Jacky Tyrie, Swansea University, United Kingdom
Gabriela Martínez Sainz, University College Dublin, Ireland
Nadine Correia, Instituto de Educação, Universidade de Lisboa, Portugal
Fatma Büşra Aksoy Kumru, Istanbul University-Cerrahpaşa, Türkiye
Overview
The EECERA Special Interest Group (SIG) on Young Children’s Rights (aged 0–8) is dedicated to advancing research and dialogue around the rights of young children across diverse cultural and educational contexts. Grounded in EECERA’s commitment to rigorous early childhood research, this SIG promotes interdisciplinary and cross-national collaboration among scholars to explore how children’s rights are understood, enacted, and critically examined worldwide. Central to its mission is the development and promotion of rights-based frameworks—comprehensive, ethically grounded approaches informed by the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child and other key instruments—which are essential for shaping both research and practice.
The purpose of the Young Children’s Rights SIG is to:
- Support interdisciplinary research on young children’s rights
- Foster knowledge exchange between scholars, practitioners, and policymakers
- Strengthen European and global perspectives on children’s rights, agency, and participation
- Encourage dialogue, collaboration, and networking across disciplines and contexts
- Contribute to high-quality research and its practical application in policy and practice
- Enhance early childhood policy and practice worldwide
- Provide platforms for engagement through conferences, publications, and networks
- Drive innovation and shape future discourse on children’s rights in ECEC
Upcoming Events
The SIG are organising their inaugural meeting at EECERA 2026 in Madeira on Tuesday, 25th August 2026, from 15:00 to 16:00 (WEST). For any questions regarding this or if you wish to book a place to attend, please contact Jacky Tyrie.
Online Networking Event – October 2026 – “Setting the Compass: Defining Our Vision for Young Children’s Rights”. Virtual session to engage participants and visualise shared interests. As part of the event the SIG will work on co-creating a “position paper” or set of principles to guide SIG work using participant input, a Mapping Interests & Expertise, and develop Next Steps for the subsequent year.
Rights-in-Context Webinar Series: Starting in Autumn 2026 our webinar series will spotlighting how young children’s rights are interpreted and practiced in different regions in Europe (e.g. Scandinavia, Eastern Europe) and beyond. These events will feature panel discussions.