CYS Research and knowledge exchange

Our current research projects and how our work is influencing policy and practice.

Current research projects

Funded by: ESRC IAA Grant

The project team is led by Fiona Morrison, with Kasey McCall-Smith and Kay Tisdall. Partners are Children's Parliament, the Commissioner for Children & Young People Scotland and Together (Scottish Alliance for Children’s Rights).

Working with key Scottish organisations, this project develops practical tools and frameworks to support the implementation of children's human rights accountability across different sectors and institutions.

For further information see Observatory of Children’s Human Rights Scotland.

Related links

Children's Parliament

Commissioner for Children & Young People Scotland

Together (Scottish Alliance for Children’s Rights)

Observatory of Children’s Human Rights Scotland


Funded by: Challenge Investment Fund, University of Edinburgh

The research team is led by Dr Fiona Morrison, with co-applicants James Clegg, Emma Davidson, Marlies Kustatscher, Minkyung Kwon, Kay Tisdall and Kasia Kaczmarska. Partners are the Children’s Parliament and the Talbot Rice Gallery. 

Building on partnerships between the Children's Parliament, artists, TRG, and academic researchers, we aim to reframe traditional narratives around children in cultural spaces. Our project helps to ensure children become active creators and critics rather than mere subjects, fundamentally shifting power dynamics. By reimagining the gallery as both canvas and catalyst, we will document children's artistic responses to childism and historically exclusive spaces. This initiative aims to reshape who creates, controls, and contributes to university cultural spaces and knowledge creation. A multimodal symposium will further amplify interdisciplinary dialogue around children's marginalisation and inclusion in cultural spaces and society more broadly.

The associated exhibition is ‘The Children are Now’ at the Talbot Rice Gallery.

To note this is associated with the Stewart Robertson Lecture, ‘Childism, Children’s Rights and the Challenge of Children’s Empowerment’ by Professor John Wall.

Email Fiona Morrison 

Related links

Children's Parliament

The Children are Now exhibit

Prof John Wall


Funded by: ESRC IAA Placement Scheme Grant 

The research is led by Laura Wright working in partnership with Foundry, a province-wide   integrated youth services (IYS) initiative that seeks to transform access to health and social services for youth (ages 12 to 24) experiencing mental health issues. 

This co-designed arts-based participatory research  aims to explore the impact of youth and family peer support workers’ role on their own  mental health and wellbeing. 

For further information on other Foundry research, visit the Foundry website.

Foundry Research - Foundry

For further information on this project, email Laura Wright.  

Contact Laura Wright


Funded by: Royal Society of Edinburgh

The research team is Kay Tisdall and Hung-Chieh Chang (National Taiwan University)

The research has three research questions: 

  1. What policies, organisations and processes support or hinder children’s participation?
  2. Which children tend to be included or excluded within such participation?
  3. What are ‘successful’ examples of children’s participation, why, and how it is understood in different cultures?

Email Kay Tisdall 


Funded by: The Froebel Trust

This project sets out to understand what happens when Froebelian-inspired pedagogies are critically and comparatively discussed, then translated by teachers in dialogues across diverse early childhood education (ECE) sites.

Three videostimulated interviews will take place with teachers across three geographically and culturally diverse countries – Scotland, United Kingdom, and New Zealand – which share links to Froebelian philosophy. Interviews will be based on previously generated footage of a day-in-the-life of two teachers across each of the three ECE sites.

Dialogic methodology will be used to examine the opportunities and tensions that exist when pedagogies are opened up for scrutiny through dialogue. We are interested in discovering the potential for these dialogues to enhance teachers’ pedagogies and the educational experiences of 2–5-year-old learners in these ECE sites.

The insights generated from this inquiry will support teachers to explore, apply and account for the influence of philosophies on pedagogies in local ECE contexts, benefiting from the ‘outsider’ perspectives of teachers and researchers from diverse cultural and philosophical contexts for learning.  A Routledge e-book and video companion will invite teachers across the globe to critically explore their own philosophically informed pedagogies for localised ECE through this dialogic route.

Research co-leads:

Dr Caroline Guard, Kingston University, London

Dr Lynn McNair, University of Edinburgh

Prof Elizabeth-Jayne White, University of Canterbury, New Zealand

Researchers:

Luke Addison, University of Edinburgh

Vanessa Paki, University of Canterbury, New Zealand

Dr Bridgette Redder, University of Canterbury, New Zealand


Funded by: Royal Society of Edinburgh Personal Research Fellowship

This fellowship investigates how accountability mechanisms for children's human rights can be systematically embedded within legislative processes, ensuring that children's rights considerations are integral to law-making.

Email Fiona Morrison 


Funded by: PTAS, University of Edinburgh

The research team is led by Dr Fiona Morrison and co-applicants Dr Kristen Darling-McQuistan, Avril McIvor and Professor Kay Tisdall. On the project team are Colin Morrison, James Kennedy-Turner, David Obree, Eve Mullins, and Felicia Szloboda.

This project will strengthen professional programmes across the University of Edinburgh, ensuring students are prepared to meet their responsibilities as duty-bearers under the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC). It will enhance students’ professional readiness by equipping them with the knowledge and skills to develop children's rights practices and implement children's rights.

Email Fiona Morrison


Funded by: Legal Empowerment Fund

The project is led by University of Strathclyde, and involves Fiona Morrison and Kay Tisdall from the University of Edinburgh, and partners in Colombia, Greece, Philippines, Sierra Leonne, South Africa.

Email Fiona Morrison 


Funded by: Ontario Ministry of Colleges and Universities, Ontario Research Fund

The project is led by Tara Collins (Toronto Metropolitan University). Kay Tisdall is a co-investigator and Laura Wright is a collaborator.

For further information, see the International and Canadian Child Rights Partnership. 

International and Canadian Child Rights Partnership


Funded by: Social Science and Humanities Research Council of Canada

The research team is led by Tara Collins (Toronto Metropolitan University) and involves a large number of children and young people, academics, non-governmental organisations and other stakeholders. At the University of Edinburgh, it involves Dr Patricio Cuevas-Parra, Professor Kay Tisdall and Dr Laura Wright as part of the management team and our partners the Children's Parliament.

ICCRP project

Children’s Parliament

Contact us


Funded by: Scottish Funding Council, External Experts Fund

Email Kristina Konstantoni 



Funded by: CAHSS KEI, University of Edinburgh

The research team is Fiona Morrison, Claire Houghton and Kay Tisdall. Partners are Scottish Women’s Aid  and the Observatory of Children’s Human Rights Scotland. 

Examining the intersection of children's rights and domestic abuse, this project aims to ensure children affected by domestic abuse are seen, heard, and protected within policy and law.

For further information:

Observatory of Children’s Human Rights Scotland 

Scottish Women's Aid


Funded by: UoE/Scottish Funding Council ISPF ODA Partnership Grant

The research is led by Marlies Kustatscher with Kay Tisdall, Edwar Calderon (Queens University Belfast), Juan Manuel Gomez (Innovaser/Mr Klaje Collective) and Alan Brown (artist).

This project explores the potential of music- and arts-based methodologies for centering the voices of Afrocolombian, displaced and Indigenous young people in climate action. It builds on established research relationships and adds new partnerships between young people, artists, researchers and policymakers in Colombia and the United Kingdom. 

As international attention has shifted to Colombia’s hosting of COP16 (Convention on Biodiversity) in Oct-Nov 2024, we co-produce, with minoritised young people, a sound art installation to engage community and policy audiences in conversations around climate justice. Through workshops and outputs we aim to evaluate, refine and disseminate the potential of music- and arts-based methodologies for centering minoritised young people’s voices in climate conversations.

Email Marlies Kustatscher 


Influencing policy and practice

Our research directly influences policy and practice through evidence-based submissions, briefings, and collaborative work with government bodies and international organisations.

Through this work, we bridge the gap between academic research and real-world impact, ensuring that children's human rights are supported by legal and policy frameworks.

Visit the website of The Observatory


Documents and blogs

Webinar

On 4th February 2021, the webinar ‘Implementing Children’s Rights in Scotland – Developing Systems of Child-Friendly Complaints, Remedy and Redress’ held an in-depth discussion in light of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (Incorporation) Scotland Bill.

The webinar was chaired by Bruce Adamson (Children and Young People's Commissioner Scotland). Speakers included:

  • Fiona Morrison (University of Stirling)
  • Máire McCormack and Kay Tisdall (University of Edinburgh)
  • Andy Sirel (JustRight Scotland)
  • Ursula Kilkelly (University College Cork)
  • Katie Boyle (University of Stirling)
  • Rosemary Agnew (Scottish Public Services Ombudsman)

The seminar was hosted by:

Watch the webinar

Find out more about the consultation​​​​​  

The Children (Scotland) Bill

In April 2019, the First Minister made a commitment to pass a law within the next two years that will incorporate the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) into Scots law. From May to August 2019 the Scottish Government held a consultation on how a new Act could incorporate the UNCRC into the law of Scotland.

Kay Tisdall wrote a profile of Scottish childhood policy, for the British Academy’s Childhood Programme. 

Ruth Friskney, Fiona Morrison and Kay Tisdall gave evidence to the Justice Committee (Scottish Parliament) on the Children (Scotland) Bill. 

This contribution is connected with the following research projects:

  • Children’s Participation in Family Actions
  • Improving Justice in Child Contact

Scottish Women's Aid, Children 1st, Professor Kay Tisdall (University of Edinburgh) and Dr Fiona Morrison (University of Stirling) submitted a joint briefing on the Stage 2 debates of the Children (Scotland) Bill in June 2020. A copy of the briefing is available below.

Scottish Women’s Aid (with input from Yello!, an expert group of young people who have experienced domestic abuse and the family courts), Children 1st, Professor Kay Tisdall (University of Edinburgh) and Dr Fiona Morrison (University of Stirling) submitted a joint briefing in advance of the Stage 3 debate on the Children (Scotland) Bill on the 25th August. A copy of the briefing is available below.

Dr Fiona Morrison (University of Stirling), Máire McCormack and Professor Kay Tisdall (University of Edinburgh) submitted a briefing to the Equality and Human Rights Committee in response to a call for views on the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (Incorporation) (Scotland) Bill on the 16th October 2020. A copy of the briefing is available below.

Improving Justice in Child Contact (IJCC) research project

Improving Justice in Child Contact (IJCC) was a partnership research project across five European countries, running from November 2018 - January 2021.

The project's goal was participation of children and young people in decisions around child contact for families affected by domestic violence. This project was funded by the European Union’s Rights, Equality and Citizenship Programme (2014 - 2020).

Further information

For further information, contact the project team at the at the University of Edinburgh.

Professor Kay Tisdall

Other blogs include a summary of a virtual event: 'Domestic Violence and Child Contact: European Perspectives', a look at how we need child-friendly and effective systems for complaints and redress to make children's rights real and how children and women affected by domestic abuse were put under particular pressures by COVID-19.


Project outputs

Materials developed through the Improving Justice in Child Contact project including briefings, reports and films.

Virtual events

This webinar shared how we can systematically change and improve child contact systems, when children and women have experienced domestic violence. 

Based on the five-country project Improving Justice in Child Contact, the webinar presented and discussed learning about how to make strategic change. This webinar included contributions from the five country partners (Bulgaria, Cyprus, Portugal, Romania and Scotland) and reflections from the Scottish Government’s Cabinet Secretary for Justice Humza Yousaf.

The webinar was co-chaired by Dr Marsha Scott and Professor Kay Tisdall, Improving Justice in Child Contact, with presentations from:

  • Dr Marsha Scott, on behalf of Scottish Women's Aid
  • Prof Kay Tisdall, on behalf of the Childhood and Youth Studies Research Group (CYSRG), University of Edinburgh
  • Sarah Moton, on behalf of Matter of Focus
  • Cabinet Secretary for Justice, Humza Yousaf, on behalf of the Scottish Government
  • Minister for Older People and Equalities, Christina McKelvie, on behalf of the Scottish Government
  • Laura Albu, on behalf of Fundatia Centrul de Mediere si Securitate Comunitara (CMSC)
  • Heloísa Perista, on behalf of Centro de Estudos para a Intervenção Social (CESIS) and
  • Susana  Pavlou, on behalf of Mediterranean Institute for Gender Studies (MIGS)
  • Elena Triffonova, on behalf of Български център за джендър изследвания (BGRF)
Transcripts
Presentation slides

This webinar shared how children and young people can contribute to legal decisions about child contact, in the context of domestic violence. 

Based on the five-country project Improving Justice in Child Contact (IJCC), this webinar presented and discussed how children and young people who have experienced domestic violence can provide their opinions and knowledge to improve systems and processes.

The webinar was chaired by Professor Kay Tisdall, Improving Justice in Child Contact, with presentations from:

  • Professor Kay Tisdall on behalf of the Childhood and Youth Studies research group
  • Dr Marsha Scott, Susie Dalton and Sue McKellar, on behalf of Scottish Women's Aid
  • Ana Alexandre, Alexandra Dourado, and Zahrah Latif, on behalf of  União de Mulheres Alternativa e Resposta (UMAR)
  • Sónia Pinela, on behalf of Family and Children Center of the Specialized Integrated Section of Domestic Violence of the District of Lisbon (Portugal)
  • Rosa Monteiro, on behalf of Portuguese State Secretary for Citizenship and Equality
Transcripts
Presentation slides

Drawing on the work of the IJCC project, Scottish Women’s Aid organised a webinar on the Children (Scotland) Act 2020. 

Fiona Morrison and Kay Tisdall gave one of their presentations on challenges and opportunities for children’s participation rights. Their presentation slides can be found below.


Publications

Scotland: A child's experiences of child contact processes

‘A’ is a young woman supported by a Women's Aid group in Scotland. This briefing contains her words about how she experienced child contact court processes.

  • ‘A’ did not feel listened to when she was going through the court processes in Scotland. The court decided when and how she would communicate and spend time with a parent that she was not living with.
  • ‘A’ felt she understood a lot more than the adults in the systems around her thought she did.
  • ‘A’ felt that the court systems made assumptions about what was happening because they and the people in them operated with gendered stereotypes.

IJCC Project Briefing: A child's experience of child contact processes (480.08 KB PDF)

Romania: Our voices are heard and protected

Key messages:

  • Children should be given an opportunity to express their views and wishes on decisions that affect their lives.
  • The provision of victim protection and assistance services must take due account of the rights and needs of child witnesses of all forms of domestic or gender-based violence.
  • In determining the custody and visitation rights of children, incidents of violence covered by the Istanbul Convention, ratified by Romania, will be taken into account.
  • The exercise of any right of access or custody must not endanger the rights and safety of victims or children.
  • A child victim or child witness of violence against women and domestic violence should be offered special protective measures, taking into account the best interests of the child.

IJCC Romania Briefing (Romanian version) (1.34 MB PDF)

IJCC Romania Briefing (English version) (1.32 MB PDF)

Portugal: Listening to children

Key messages:

  • Children want to be heard.
  • Children want spaces within the judicial system to be child-friendly and to help them feel secure.
  • Children want to understand decisions made in judicial procedures that concern them.
  • The profile of competencies of the professionals interacting with children during the judicial procedures is of utmost importance.

In this context, the role of ‘Super Listener’ is a crucial requisite.

IJCC Portugal briefing: A Audição Das Crianças (Portuguese version) (1.2 MB PDF)

IJCC Portugal Briefing: Listening to Children (English version) (1.03 MB PDF)

Cyprus: Domestic abuse and impact on children

Key messages:

  • The issue of children living with intimate partner violence should be recognised as a matter for concern in its own right.
  • Children must be given the opportunity to express their views and wishes regarding decisions that affect their lives.
  • ‘Parental alienation’ should not be invoked to grant custody to a father accused of domestic violence, disregarding the risks for the child.
  • The consequences of court-mandated contact with violent men can endanger the lives of women and their children.

IJCC Cyprus Briefing: Domestic abuse and impact on children (Greek version) (792.51 KB PDF)

IJCC Cyprus Briefing: Domestic abuse and impact on children (English version) (776.6 KB PDF)

Bulgaria: Methodology for empowering of child victims and witnesses of conflicts and violence in the family: through gathering relevant information for the views of children about those situations

Key message:

  • The children are highly intuitive and sensitive and share aspects of their emotionally painful and traumatic experiences. 

IJCC Bulgaria Briefing (English version) (1.34 MB PDF)

IJCC Bulgaria Briefing (Bulgarian version) (1.39 MB PDF)


This collaborative report has been produced as part of the Improving Justice in Child Contact project. It sets out the findings and learning from the project in developing collaborative working practices across sectors. Such collaboration seeks to embed systemic change in order to improve children’s rights in child contact processes and to protect children and women impacted by domestic violence.

IJCC Collaborative working briefing (876.96 KB PDF)

IJCC Collaborative working report (1.5 MB PDF)


This Participation Report and its briefing have been produced by the Improving Justice in Child Contact project. They set out the findings and learning from the project in terms of involving children and young people in contested child contact when they have experienced domestic abuse. The report concentrates on children and young people’s influence on policy and practice. 

IJCC Participation Briefing (661 KB PDF)

IJCC Participation Report (1.01 MB PDF)


This report is an evaluation of the Improving Justice in Child Contact Project (IJCC) which took place from November 2018 to January 2021 as a partnership between organisations interested in women and children’s rights from Bulgaria, Cyprus, Portugal, Romania and Scotland. 

IJCC was a European-funded partnership project across five countries seeking to enhance children's participation in decision making.

The project was evaluated using an approach based on contribution analysis. This report summarises the findings of the evaluation.

IJCC Evaluation Report (6.68 MB PDF)


Scotland's Social Services (IRISS) podcast recorded an audio episode (in English) with the Scottish partners, Professor Kay Tisdall from the Childhood and Youth Studies Research Group at the University of Edinburgh, and Dr Marsha Scott from the Scottish Women’s Aid about the Improving Justice in Child Contact (IJCC) and project.

The Romanian partner, CMSC, recorded an audio podcast, My Story of my Hearing in Court, an interview with a 13-year-old young expert, Maria, describing her experience of the court process around child contact. This podcast, recorded in Romanian, is to accompany her blog My Story of my Hearing in Court.

A senator in Romanian Parliament, Iulia Scantei, visited us in the CMSC meeting with Aurora Group (the Romanian version of Yello!) and talked with the girls in the group. ‘Maria’, the girl from this Aurora Group featured in the podcast 'My Story of my Hearing in Court' and its accompanying blog, agreed to attend an online webinar (audio only) organised the next day and talked about her experience in the Court. The senator, who is in the Judicial Committee of the Parliament, promised that she would lobby for a change in hearing of minors from domestic violence cases. 

The recording of this webinar is available online and has 28,000 views! The two-hour webinar, entitled ‘Our voices are listened and protected!’ was prepared the night after the senator's visit to CMSC.

Two weeks after the visit, Iulia Scantei was re-elected senator in the new Parliament. We hope to continue to work with her for the entire mandate.

How do we listen to children in court? (podcast in Romanian only)

This podcast is about a teenage girl who wants judges to listen more carefully to children's stories after a divorce process. (Note: Maria is a pseudonym to protect her teenage identity.)

The article and podcast in Romanian can be found on Decat o Revista website national journal.

The Bulgarian partner, BGRF, has made a short podcast describing their work through the project to change the Law on Protection from Domestic Violence in Bulgaria.

The Portuguese partners, CESIS and UMAR, have made a short film about their experiences of the IJCC project. UMAR have also designed a website with further information about their work on children's participation through the project.

Susana Pavlou, Director of our Cyprus partner, Mediterranean Institute of Gender Studies (MIGS), was interviewed by Magda Zenon, the host of Kaleid HER scope, a MYCY radio programme. Susana talked about how ignoring intimate partner violence against women in the determination of child custody could have serious repercussion on the child.


Sue McKeller, Scottish Women’s Aid, recorded five videos (in English) with Professor Kay Tisdall, University of Edinburgh. Sue and Kay are both part of the Scotland team of the IJCC project. 

  • Video 1 gives a general introduction to the project and raises the issues around domestic abuse and child contact and the two participation models.
  • Video 2 introduces a case study to highlight that children are affected by domestic abuse and that child contact is an area of particular concern.
  • Video 4 aims to introduce to a wide audience the idea that children have rights (!), and views and can be supported to express these. The key message being highlighted is that 'it’s adults who need to change!'
  • In videos 3 and 5, Sue interviews Dawn Ross, the Children's Rights Officer – Child Contact in West Lothian Council, Scotland. Dawn provides detailed explanation of her role in order to help you use the Participation Toolkit we produced. They encourage people to use the project's Super Listener resources  as a checklist by those who work with children and young people. 

Power Up/Power Down was an exciting partnership project between Scottish Women’s Aid and the Children and Young People’s Commissioner for Scotland. 

In 2016, 27 children and young people aged between 6 and 17 years old took part in a participatory project, Power Up/Power Down, supported by Glasgow Women’s Aid, Shakti Women’s Aid and East Dunbartonshire Women’s Aid. Throughout a series of sessions, they explored themes of power, children’s rights, making their voices heard in court and how to improve the experience and outcomes for children affected by domestic abuse in family court actions relating to contact decisions.

Children and young people taking part were given an illustrated story about two children with experience of domestic abuse going through the family court system, based on real-life examples collected by Scottish Women’s Aid. Through an exploration of the story in relation to children’s rights and concepts of power, the children and young people ‘rewrote’ the story to improve the outcomes for the children in it.

The resulting new story highlights key areas for positive change and identifies recommendations for making the system better for children and young people. These recommendations have been used to directly inform our policy and influencing work around court-ordered contact.

The stories of Power Up/Power Down, along with the background of the project, have also been compiled into a series of five videos.


The United Nations Special Rapporteur on violence against women issued a call for submissions on the increase in domestic violence against women during COVID-19. 

In June 2020 the IJCC project contributed a response detailing some of the particular impacts of COVID-19 on domestic violence in the context of child custody and contact.

Read the IJCC response submitted to the UN Special Rapporteur on the increase in domestic violence against women in COVID-19 (452.05 KB PDF)

The Children (Scotland) Bill was legislation considered by the Scottish Parliament in 2019/2020. Its aims included ensuring the views of the child are heard in contact and residence cases. 

In November 2019, IJCC project partners in Scotland contributed evidence to the Justice Committee scrutinising the Bill. In August 2020 IJCC project partners in Scotland provided a briefing for the final debate on the Bill.


Participation resources

Resources developed through the Improving Justice in Child Contact project to support children’s participation in decision-making.

Yello!, the young experts advising the project, designed two videos for young people affected by domestic abuse, by young people affected by domestic abuse. Yello! wanted children and young people to know that other young people are experiencing the same things that they are, that they are not alone, and that they can access support. 

"If home is not safe" is aimed at children and young people experiencing domestic abuse at home from an abusive parent. 

"You are not alone" is aimed at young people affected by domestic abuse in their own relationships.

Young people across the project partner countries have been working with IJCC to develop versions of these videos with subtitles and support information in their own languages. This playlist currently includes Portuguese and English versions of the two videos.

Animations were created by young people affected by domestic abuse for young people affected by domestic abuse, to reassure them that help is available and they are not alone.

Access all videos connected to the IJCC project on our media channel


This toolkit has been produced as part of the Improving Justice in Child Contact project. It is aimed at women’s and/or children’s rights organisations across Europe wishing to undertake participation initiatives with children and young people relating to child contact and domestic violence.


Past projects

A source of strength: children's and mothers' relationships in the context of domestic abuse

Funded by: Economic and Social Research Council

The project was led by Fiona Morrison. 

This project explored the relationships between children and mothers experiencing domestic abuse, highlighting these relationships as sources of strength.

For further information see the project website.

A source of strength website

Art-Based Intergenerational Monitoring, Evaluation and Reflexive Learning

Funded by: Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC) United Kingdom Research Initiative (UKRI). Mobile Arts for Peace Large Grant

The research team is led by Dr Laura Wright (University of Edinburgh), with Professor Kay Tisdall and others.

Learn more about Mobile Arts for Peace (MAP)

For more information, contact Laura Wright.

Email Laura Wright

Barriers and enablers to youth activism: A pilot study

Funded by: British Academy Early Career Network Grant 2023 (BAS2023-54)

The research is led by Dr Sarah Ward (University of Edinburgh) and Dr Maureen McBride (University of Glasgow).

Following recent health, socio-economic and climate crises, youth activism has become critical in generating social change. However, activists from disadvantaged backgrounds experience multiple barriers to participation. This pilot project explores the barriers/enablers that support disadvantaged youth activists’ involvement in social movements for change. By exploring lived experience, we aim to build towards a larger grant application by a) shaping a collaborative research design, and b) building collaborative relationships with youth activists.

Children and Families Affected by Domestic Abuse (CAFADA) 

Funded by: The Economic and Social Research Council

The research team is led by Professor Jane Callaghan (University of Stirling) and involves a number of academics and other stakeholders. At the University of Edinburgh, it involves Professor John Devaney (CoI), Dr Claire Houghton (CoI), Kay Steven (Former Research Fellow), Dr Fiona Morrison (CoI), Professor Kay Tisdall (CoI) and Dr Camille Warrington (Senior Research Fellow).

CAFADA learns from promising innovations in social care, for social work, police and criminal justice, and in domestic abuse and children’s organisations in Scotland and England.

Project website

The University of Edinburgh team made a particular contribution to the Participation Toolkit, which shares resources and tools to work with children, young people and women in domestic abuse research.

Participating Toolkit

For further information, please contact us.

Email Dr Fiona Morrison

Email Professor Kay Tisdall

Email Professor Jane Callaghan

Froebelian Futures

Funded by: The Froebel Trust

Froebelian Futures is a partnership with Cowgate Under 5s and the University of Edinburgh.

Programme Director and Co-Director:

Other University of Edinburgh members are:

This three-year programme aims to strengthen and deepen child and community-centred early years practice across Scotland, based on the foundational principles of Friedrich Froebel.

Visit the Froebelian Futures website 

Mobile Arts for Peace: Art-Based Intergenerational Monitoring, Evaluation and Reflexive Learning

Funded by: Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC) United Kingdom Research Initiative (UKRI), Mobile Arts for Peace Large Grant

The research team was led by Dr Laura Wright, with Dr Laura Lee, Professor Kay Tisdall and others.

The project took a multi-method, monitoring, evaluation and learning approach that used arts-based research to work in partnership with young people through co-production. 

It explored the use of interdisciplinary arts-based practices for peacebuilding in Indonesia, Kyrgyzstan, Nepal and Rwanda, including political, cultural, religious and linguistic factors, as well as the crosscutting issues of gender and intersecting inequalities, environments and the exclusion of children and youth from policymaking processes. 

For more information, see the website or contact Laura Wright.

Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning (MEL) – Mobile Arts for Peace (MAP)

Email Laura Wright

Making Space for Children and Young People’s Co-Production

Funded by: Scottish Funding Council (via Data Collaborative for Children) 2024,  CAHSS Research Theme Fund 2024, CAHSS Research Training Fund 2024, CAHSS Small Grant Scheme 2022, Challenge Investment Fund (CIF) Grant 2022-2023 

The project was led by Laura Wright, with Kay Tisdall, Christina McMellon, Autumn Roesch-Marsh, Jennifer Lavoie, Debi Fry, Zoe Pitman, Alexandra Jundler, Fiona Morrison and others. 

The project sought to challenge traditional research paradigms through building a strategy for children and young people’s meaningful coproduction in research at the university level. It included collaboration and consultation with young people and University of Edinburgh colleagues across disciplines to develop a strategy and business case. Further, it included co-design of workshops and training to support dialogue and learning on meaningful coproduction at an institutional level. 

The project team is currently exploring funding to launch a strategic support service to catalyse research innovation, creativity and discovery through co-production with children and young people.

For further information contact Laura Wright.

Email Laura Wright

National-Level Child Participation Infrastructures

Funded by: World Vision International

The research team is led by Professor Kay Tisdall (University of Edinburgh) with Dr Karina Padilla Malca.

Policy Assessment 

National governance and infrastructures supporting children and young people's collective participation in public decision-making

Research Network on Children’s Human Rights: Mobilising expertise from research, policy and practice

Funded by: RSE Network Grant.

The grant is led by Professor Kay Tisdall (University of Edinburgh), with Professor Jennifer Davidson (Strathclyde University) and Dr Fiona Morrison (University of Edinburgh).

Learn more about the Research Network

Safe, Inclusive Participative Pedagogy (SIPP): Improving early childhood education

Funded by UKRI & GCRF

Partnership between:

This international research project aims to identify and develop safe, inclusive participative pedagogy that is implementable in fragile contexts and sustainable for governments, communities and families.

Project website

Email us for further information

Sonic Engagement: Connecting with Research Audiences Through Sound Art

Funded by: MHSES Innovation Fund, University of Edinburgh

The research was led by Marlies Kustatscher, with Dr Edwar Calderon (Queens University Belfast), Juan Manuel Gomez (Innovaser / Mr Klaje Innovaser Collective) and Alan Brown (artist).

This project brought together artists, researchers and young people to explore practical ways of using sound art to engage communities and audiences with research findings. 

Sound and music are a popular tool – in research with children and young people, and in research with ‘marginalised’ groups – to facilitate expression, build relationships, and create a sense of belonging, safety and joy. Sound played a key role in our previous research collaborations on the themes of peacebuilding and social justice with young people in Colombia (Calderón et al., 2022), for example by using ‘sound mapping’ and by composing, recording and performing songs as part of our methodologies. However, while the affective and epistemic potential of sound has been discussed in the literature (Gallagher, 2016), there has been little exploration to date on the role of sound art for sharing research findings. 

This project addressed the questions:

  • What is the potential of sound art to engage communities and audiences with research findings?
  • How and where can sound art be designed and installed to engage people in affective, unexpected, impactful ways – beyond verbal/linguistic forms of communication?
  • What can be learned about the broader role of sound and sound art for practices of solidarity, resistance and social transformation?

Youth’s Experience of Peer-to-Peer Sexual Violence Online, Social norms and Youth-Led Recommendations for Prevention and Response: A Cross-regional Study

Funded by: End Violence Against Children Tech Coalition Safe Online Research Fund. 

This research was led by Kathleen Manion (Royal Roads University), with Laura Wright and international colleagues. 

The project explored youths' experience of peer-to-peer online sexual violence, what the emerging social norms that perpetuate sexual violence among youth online are, and what ideas youth had for prevention. The participatory research project involved youth and partners in Albania, Kenya and Canada. 

For more information email Laura Wright.

Email Laura Wright


The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the delivery of education to children under five

Funder: Scottish COVID-19 Inquiry

The project was led by Marlies Kustatscher with Kay Tisdall, Juliet Hancock, Annie Taylor and Gillean McCluskey. 

Desk-based research for the Scottish COVID-19 Inquiry on how the COVID-19 pandemic, and policy responses to it, impacted on the learning of young children in Scotland. 

Final report: The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the delivery of education to children under five

EC3R: Establishing Capacity, Connection and Collaboration for Early Career Researchers working at the intersection of the Arts, Humanities, and Health

Funder: University College London (UCL) University of Toronto (UoT) Collaborative Projects Emerging Global Talents (2023)

The project was led by Katey Warran (UCL) (PI) and Suze Berkhout (UoT) (PI). Laura Wright was a Co-Investigator. 

The project supported early career researchers across Canada and the United Kingdom at the intersections of arts, humanities, and health with mini grants to further develop research ideas and a space to collaborate, learn about arts-based methods, and further build research skills and relationships. 

For further information contact Laura Wright.

Email Laura Wright

Innovation and Creativity in the Third Sector in response to COVID-19: A Rapid Realist Evidence Synthesis (2021-2023)

Funded by: The Scottish Government

The research team was led by Dr Michael Roy (Glasgow Caledonian University) with Dr Claire Bynner (University of Edinburgh) and Dr Simon Teasdale (Queen’s University, Belfast).

The project's overarching aim was to understand the role of third sector organisations in innovating to ensure support to vulnerable and disadvantaged people during the COVID-19 pandemic. 

Participatory action research: Peer to peer relationships during COVID-19. 

Funder: Social Science and Humanities Research Council Partnership Engage Grant 

The project was led by Hala Mreiwed (University of Western Ontario). Laura Wright was a collaborator and core team member.  

The Participatory Action Research (PAR) pilot project worked with ten children (ages 12 to 15) across two provinces in Canada (Ontario and Quebec) to explore: 1) How could peer-to-peer relationships affect children’s ability/opportunity to exercise their agency? 2) What is the role of peer-to-peer relationships in individual and relational experiences of personal and social development during and after the pandemic?

For further information contact Laura Wright.

Shaping Youth Futures – Young Livelihood options in creative inclusive cities (2020-2023)

Funded by: The British Academy, Global Challenges Research Fund

The research team was led by Dr Sukanya Krishnamurthy (University of Edinburgh),  with Mary Ann Powell (Consultant), Irene Rizzini (CIESPI, Brazil), Roshni Kishore Nuggehalli (Youth for Unity and Voluntary Action, India), Kanak Tiwari (National Institute of Urban Affairs), Bharath Palavalli (Fields of View, India), Professor Kay Tisdall (University of Edinburgh, CoI).

Using creative and accessible outputs, the research team engaged with young and adult stakeholders to transform local policies and practices, and provided lessons nationally and cross-nationally to support youth livelihood options that create inclusive cities.

The Play-Café Project: What would Froebelian play cafés look like? (2021-2023)

Funded by: The Froebel Trust

The research team was led by Dr Kristina Konstantoni with The Network for Children’s Rights (NGO, Greece). Further team members were Dr Lynn McNair, Dr Marlies Kustatscher, and Dr Laura Wright.

Transdisciplinary Research for the Improvement of Youth Mental Public Health (TRIUMPH) Network (2018-2023)

Funded by: RCUK Cross-Council Mental Health Network Plus Call

The network was led by Professor Joanna Inchley (University of Glasgow) and involved a large number of children and young people, academics, non-governmental organisations and other stakeholders. At the University of Edinburgh, it involved Professor Kay Tisdall as CoI.

TRIUMPH brough together young people, health practitioners, policy-makers and those working with voluntary organisations, with academics from across clinical, social sciences, arts and humanities, design, and computer sciences disciplines. By working together we found new ways to improve mental health and wellbeing, especially among vulnerable and disadvantaged groups where need is greatest.

Turning the Page: youth engagement and policy impact through arts and music with public libraries in Cali (2023)

Funded by: UKRI ODA Impact and Development Grant

The research team was led by Dr Marlies Kustatscher (University of Edinburgh), with Professor Kay Tisdall (University of Edinburgh), Klaje Collective and further Colombian partners.

Understanding Gender-Based Violence against diasporic LGBTQ youth. (2023)

Funded by: Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council & Women and Gender Equality Canada. Knowledge Synthesis Grant

The research team was led by Dr Laura Wright (University of Edinburgh) with Doris Kakuru. University of Victoria.

Understanding Gender-Based Violence against diasporic LGBTQ youth. Knowledge Synthesis Grant.

Funder: Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council and Women and Gender Equality Canada

The research project was led by Doris Kakuru (University of Victoria). Laura Wright was a research collaborator.  

The knowledge synthesis aimed to explore the experience of migrant youth who identify as LGBTQ+ with discrimination in Canada. It further explored power dynamics, types of support services, and gaps in research and practice. 

For further information contact Laura Wright.

Email Laura Wright


Children as Innovators – Harnessing the creative expertise of children to address practical and psycho-social challenges of COVID-19 Pandemic

This research explored strategies in the home and community, where children’s creative and innovative responses helped them and their friends and families adjust to changes during and after the pandemic. It considered how children’s actions in the pandemic may affect the ability of others in their community to adjust to changes.

The research team was led by Dr Suja Somanadhan (University College Dublin). Professor Kay Tisdall (The University of Edinburgh) was a reasearch team member.

Domestic Abuse Court Cases: The Views and Experiences of Child and Adult Victims and Witnesses in Domestic Abuse Court Cases (2021-2022)

Funded by: The Scottish Government

The research team was led by Dr Claire Houghton (PI, University of Edinburgh), Dr Fiona Morrison (CoI, University of Stirling/ University of Edinburgh), Dr Camille Warrington (Researcher, University of Edinburgh) and Professor Kay Tisdall (CoI, University of Edinburgh).

Towards sustainable futures: developing social entrepreneurship with Afrocolombian and indigenous young people in Colombia

A series of projects, funded by: University of Edinburgh CAHSS KEI Fund, AHRC GCRF Changing the Story Follow-on Funding, UoE Scottish Funding Council GCRF Global Impact Accelerator

The research team (Marlies Kustatscher, Kay Tisdall, Edwar Calderon, Tony Evanko, Juan Manuel Gomez) worked with young people, artists, researchers and business experts in Colombia to develop a social enterprise pilot based on young people’s ideas for a gastro-cultural enterprise, drawing on local heritage. 


Children’s Participation in Business (2019-2021)

Cuál es la verdad? (What is the Truth?) De-constructing collective memories and imagining alternative futures with young people in Chocó through music and art (2019-2021)

  • Dr Marlies Kustatscher
  • Edwar Alexis Calderon
  • Tony Evanko
  • Juan Manuel Gomez
  • Professor Kay Tisdall

We Play Festival [The Play-Café Festival: Pop up play-cafés as radical public spaces for community engagement, learning, research and impact]

Funded by College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences. University of Edinburgh , The Froebel Trust and Moray House School of Education and Sport

The research team was led by  Dr Kristina Konstantoni and Simon Bateson.


Child Activists for Ending Child Marriage: Exploring children’s experiences in Bangladesh and Ghana (2018-2020) 

Partnership between Professor Kay Tisdall (University of Edinburgh) and Dr Patricio Cuevas-Parra (World Vision International) with the support of World Vision Bangladesh (Stralla Rupa Mollick), World Vision Ghana (Gregory Dery) and fieldwork support in Ghana by Patrick Brobbey.

Event: International Day of the Girl - Exploring Child Activism to End Child Marriage | 11 Oct 2021
Event: International Day of the Girl: Exploring Child Activism to End Child Marriage | 11 Oct 2019

World Vision and the University of Edinburgh, in collaboration with Girls Not Brides and Child Rights Connect. United Nations Palace, Geneva.

Report for US AID
Other publications

Tisdall, E.K.M. and Cuevas-Parra, P. (2020) ‘Challenges for Children’s Participation: Child activism for ending child marriage’, Children and Youth Services Review 108

Tisdall, E.K.M. and Cuevas-Parra, P. (2021) ‘Beyond the familiar challenges for children and young people’s participation rights: the potential of activism’, The International Journal of Human Rights 26(5): 792-810.

Cuevas-Parra, P. and Tisdall, E.K.M. (2022) ‘Investing in Activism: Learning from children’s actions to stop child marriage’, Childhood 29(4): 529-544. 

Children’s Participation in Family Actions: Probing Compliance with Children’s Human Rights (2018-2020)

  • Dr Fiona Morrison (PI, University of Stirling)
  • Clan Childlaw
  • Professor Kay Tisdall (CoI, University of Edinburgh)
  • Judith Warburton (Researcher, University of Stirling)
Publications

Child-led Research (2019) 

Partnership between Professor Kay Tisdall (University of Edinburgh) and Dr Patricio Cuevas-Parra (World Vision International)

 Research Briefing 4 page: Child-led research – from participating in research to leading it (151.01 KB PDF)

 Research Briefing: Child-led research – from participating in research to leading it (5.12 MB PDF)

Language, Place and Identity: exploring children’s linguistic and cognitive development in heritage and community languages (2018-19)

Scoping Reviews in relation to key topics for children and young people with learning difficulties (2018-19)

  • Professor Kay Tisdall (PI, University of Edinburgh)
  • Dr Ruth Friskney (Researcher, University of Edinburgh)
  • Dr Dinah Aitken (Salvesen Mindroom Centre)
Publications

The effect of gambling marketing and advertising on children, young people and vulnerable people (2018-19)

Led by Ipsos MORI. Professor Kay Tisdall consultant.

Publications​

Events

The Children and Young People Research Hub regularly hosts events related to our research. You can see upcoming and past events and view recordings and slides from previous events on the Hub's events page.

Visit the events page

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