Workshops

Main Area: Impact Litigation and Children’s Access to Justice

Mainstreaming children's rights through environmental law and legal practice.

The workshop will be led by Kata Dozsa and will be organised in an interactive format, with a short (20 minutes) panel introduction. By representing the J&E ENRICH project, I will invite panel speakers from environmental law NGOs as well as policymakers involved in environmental/climate matters. Child participant(s) will be welcome to participate in the panel. 

We will discuss what are/can be the main avenues to integrate children's rights, in particular, (public) participation and access to justice into environmental and climate law frameworks (e.g., the Aarhus Convention) and in national and EU-level climate action plans. Furthermore, with the active participation of children, we will share views and ideas on what meaningful participation and access to justice means from a child-rights perspective and how these can be enhanced in practice (e.g. in strategic litigation). Challenges and ethics issues will be part of the discussion which the workshop will entail activities such as a brief panel presentation, case-studies, Q&A and action planning through group divisions.

Outcome: 

By the end of the workshop, participants will have a heightened awareness of the importance of integrating a child-rights approach into climate action. Participants will collectively brainstorm and generate actionable ideas and strategies to enhance children's participation in environmental decision-making processes. Children's participation in the workshop will be a valuable asset. Environmental NGOs will gain a deeper understanding of how children's rights, especially participation, can and should be woven into climate policymaking and in legal procedures, such as strategic litigation. They will also receive feedback on their contribution to the workshop from child participants. Following the workshop, we will provide the summary and recommendations made by participants, which can be further developed and implemented by the NGOs in their future climate action initiatives

Main Area: Climate Change and Child Justice Systems

This interactive workshop will focus on the intersection of Climate Change and Child Justice Systems, covering strategic litigation, freedom of association, advocacy strategies, and improving data collection on violence against children (VAC). It aims to address the legal needs of children and support organisations in child justice and environmental rights.

Using a collaborative platform, participants will work towards several key objectives:

• Identifying Legal Needs: Participants will map the specific legal needs of children impacted by climate change, focusing on the most vulnerable and those struggling to access justice. They will examine existing gaps and challenges and propose actions to address these issues.

• Enhancing Professional Awareness: Through group brainstorming, participants will deepen their understanding of child-friendly approaches. They will explore best practices for designing pro bono legal support systems that prioritise the voices and rights of children affected by climate change.

• Fostering Cross-Sector Collaboration: The workshop will culminate in developing strategies for cross-sector pro bono collaborations. Participants from four groups will propose actionable initiatives involving children, experts, and civil society. This approach aims to empower children to engage in global challenges by creating tools and resources, such as guidelines for child-led associations and roadmaps for child-led climate advocacy and strategic litigation.

• Launching a Report: The workshop will also launch a report on the impact of climate-induced disasters on vulnerabilities and violence against children in detention facilities, developed by the Global Initiative on Justice with Children and Baker McKenzie, showcasing the power of cross-sector collaboration.

MIRO's interactive tools will facilitate real-time input and idea visualisation, ensuring a collaborative session. The platform will organise collected ideas and craft cohesive action plans for developing resources by PILnet, Baker McKenzie, the Global Initiative on Justice with Children and the Child and Youth Justice Centre at the University of Strathclyde (CYCJ).

Outcome: 

This workshop will focus on the intersection of Climate Change and Child Justice Systems, integrating discussions on strategic litigation, freedom of association, and advocacy strategies, on improving data collection practices on violence against children (VAC).

Main area: Climate Change and Crimes Committed by or Affecting Children

1. How Restorative Am I?

Participants will reflect on personal practice and communication skills, identifying areas of strength and opportunities for growth as they will be asked to complete the “How Restorative Am I?” and later discuss their results with the participant next to them using the following questions: What are your immediate observations? Did you see any patterns emerging? Were there any surprises? Later, they will be asked to form groups and further discuss their findings with the activity closing with a plenary and a whole group discussion.

2. Essential Elements: Which Practice, When, By Whom, For What Purpose?

Participants will learn the key practices for building community and repairing harm. The group will be divided into two groups with the first one receiving a card of a specific restorative practice and the second one that explains when a practice is used and who facilitates the practice, but it does not name the practice. Later the groups will be asked to prepare a role play in which they introduce the practice presenting it to the rest of the groups. After the role play, the what, why, when and who of each practice will be presented and discussed with the group.

Outcome: 

Restorative justice refers to all this approaches to justice that seek to repair harm by providing an opportunity for those harmed and those who take responsibility for the harm to communicate about and address their needs in the aftermath of a crime. Climate change on the other hand, affects drastically communities around the world with some of the most disadvantaged ones being the most affected by these kinds of crises. 
The present workshop will try to inform the participant on the ways in which restorative practises can be used for them to address environmental or other types of harm in the places where traditional laws are not present. The aims of the workshop will be the following:

• Raising awareness on the environmental situation and how it affects children affected by disasters

• Understand what restorative justice for children is and what are its principles and key practices

• Understand the application of restorative justice in the environmental context and prevent environmental harm using restorative values and practices

• Boosting participants’ creativity and liberty of expression by motivating them to produce powerful awareness messages on environmental situation

Main Area: Children's Right to Free Assembly

This training session aims to empower participants with the knowledge, skills, and networks necessary to effectively engage young people in the fight for climate justice. Through the lens of Gábor, a young Hungarian climate advocate who began his journey at the age of 15, participants will gain valuable insights into the perspectives of children and youth on climate change and justice. The session will equip participants with practical tools for listening to and involving young people in decision-making processes, ensuring their voices are heard and valued.

Participants will develop skills in engaging with children on climate activism and organising youth-led grassroots movements. Participants will be also invited to share their own knowledge and experiences, fostering a collaborative learning environment and building a support network for future initiatives.

This training aims to be a crucial step towards a just and sustainable future, driven by the passion and insights of the younger generation. Prepare yourself for an interactive session using WellBee's methodologies, including play, drama-pedagogy, active listening, questioning, and of course educational tools on children's rights and climate justice.

Outcome:

• Participants will learn about children and young people’s views about climate justice through the experience of a young person

• Participants will learn practical tools of listening to and involving young people in decision-making processes related to climate change

• Participants will share their own knowledge and experience working with young people in the topic of climate justice

• Participants will establish connections with peers, activists, and organisations working on climate justice, fostering a support network for future initiatives.

• Participants will develop practical skills related to child and youth participation and advocacy, such as organising grass-roots initiatives, and using child-friendly language when communicating with young people on social media and on other platforms

Main Area: Climate Change and Child Justice Systems

This interactive workshop will focus on the intersection of Climate Change and Child Justice Systems, covering strategic litigation, freedom of association, advocacy strategies, and improving data collection on violence against children (VAC). It aims to address the legal needs of children and support organisations in child justice and environmental rights.

Using a collaborative platform, participants will work towards several key objectives:

• Identifying Legal Needs: Participants will map the specific legal needs of children impacted by climate change, focusing on the most vulnerable and those struggling to access justice. They will examine existing gaps and challenges and propose actions to address these issues.

• Enhancing Professional Awareness: Through group brainstorming, participants will deepen their understanding of child-friendly approaches. They will explore best practices for designing pro bono legal support systems that prioritise the voices and rights of children affected by climate change.

• Fostering Cross-Sector Collaboration: The workshop will culminate in developing strategies for cross-sector pro bono collaborations. Participants from four groups will propose actionable initiatives involving children, experts, and civil society. This approach aims to empower children to engage in global challenges by creating tools and resources, such as guidelines for child-led associations and roadmaps for child-led climate advocacy and strategic litigation.

• Launching a Report: The workshop will also launch a report on the impact of climate-induced disasters on vulnerabilities and violence against children in detention facilities, developed by the Global Initiative on Justice with Children and Baker McKenzie, showcasing the power of cross-sector collaboration.

MIRO's interactive tools will facilitate real-time input and idea visualisation, ensuring a collaborative session. The platform will organise collected ideas and craft cohesive action plans for developing resources by PILnet, Baker McKenzie, the Global Initiative on Justice with Children and the Child and Youth Justice Centre at the University of Strathclyde (CYCJ).

Outcome: 

This workshop will focus on the intersection of Climate Change and Child Justice Systems, integrating discussions on strategic litigation, freedom of association, and advocacy strategies, on improving data collection practices on violence against children (VAC).

Main area: Climate Change and Crimes Committed by or Affecting Children

1. How Restorative Am I?

Participants will reflect on personal practice and communication skills, identifying areas of strength and opportunities for growth as they will be asked to complete the “How Restorative Am I?” and later discuss their results with the participant next to them using the following questions: What are your immediate observations? Did you see any patterns emerging? Were there any surprises? Later, they will be asked to form groups and further discuss their findings with the activity closing with a plenary and a whole group discussion.

2. Essential Elements: Which Practice, When, By Whom, For What Purpose?

Participants will learn the key practices for building community and repairing harm. The group will be divided into two groups with the first one receiving a card of a specific restorative practice and the second one that explains when a practice is used and who facilitates the practice, but it does not name the practice. Later the groups will be asked to prepare a role play in which they introduce the practice presenting it to the rest of the groups. After the role play, the what, why, when and who of each practice will be presented and discussed with the group.

Outcome:

Restorative justice refers to all this approaches to justice that seek to repair harm by providing an opportunity for those harmed and those who take responsibility for the harm to communicate about and address their needs in the aftermath of a crime. Climate change on the other hand, affects drastically communities around the world with some of the most disadvantaged ones being the most affected by these kinds of crises. 
The present workshop will try to inform the participant on the ways in which restorative practises can be used for them to address environmental or other types of harm in the places where traditional laws are not present. The aims of the workshop will be the following:

• Raising awareness on the environmental situation and how it affects children affected by disasters

• Understand what restorative justice for children is and what are its principles and key practices

• Understand the application of restorative justice in the environmental context and prevent environmental harm using restorative values and practices

• Boosting participants’ creativity and liberty of expression by motivating them to produce powerful awareness messages on environmental situation

Main Area: Impact Litigation and Children’s Access to Justice

A few weeks ago, the European Court of Human Rights ruled on three cases which are part of the wave of climate change litigation. The decision in the Duarte Agostinho case, brought by six young Portuguese persons, is particularly interesting. The case follows on from an earlier collective communication submitted to the Committee on the Rights of the Child, in which 16 minors argued that the failure of some States to act constituted a violation of their rights under the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child. 

Both decisions come to similar conclusions: While recognising that global change affects human rights and raises collective issues that require a global response, there remain limitations on the extraterritoriality of jurisdiction and the legitimacy of collective actors to act. These limitations are reflected not only in the child's right to access to justice, but also in the children rights to remedies.

The aim of the workshop is therefore: to consider the children rights to access to remedies in climate change litigations; to recognise that the limitation on the extraterritoriality of jurisdiction constitute one of the main problems faced by groups of children in their access to justice, and in fact undermine their concrete possibilities of recourse to international courts and tribunals; to analyse how the concept of extraterritoriality of jurisdiction can be adapted in order to guarantee effective access to justice; and to reflect on the use of collective action as a child-friendly complaint mechanism, a tool that is considered an integral part of the child's right to a remedy in intricate cases and where there is a violation of his or her rights.

Outcome: 

To make those present aware that the protection of the right of minors to access justice passes through - and this is the knot to be untied and to be worked on - the construction of rules on jurisdiction, collective action and available remedies.

This workshop consists of a peer-to-peer session, an exchange between young people around the issue of activism and climate justice. It will involve a discussion between six young activists from Belgium, Hungary, Romania and Portugal, and a class of 15–16-year-olds from Belgium.