The guidelines for the participation of children and young people are intended to offer and propose a renewed look at the participation practices of children and young people, presenting some operational indications registered from a universalist perspective in which differences and diversities are recognised and enhanced by the opportunity to be taken up in a shared context capable of counteracting any risk of exclusion.

The specific objective of the Guidelines is also to guide the approach of the National Observatory for Childhood and Adolescence, envisaging the listening to and participation of children as a methodological tool to be implemented in all phases of the National Plan of Action for Childhood and Adolescence.

The Guidelines are designed primarily for adults who share experiences with children and young people in a range of life contexts, from the family to school and other formal and non-formal educational agencies, without neglecting other contexts that welcome children and young people in difficult circumstances (hospitals, care and protection services, etc.). They are therefore aimed at operators of educational and social services, teachers, doctors, nurses and other healthcare professionals, community care workers, psychologists, mediators, guardians, judges, lawyers, law enforcement, prison service, but can also be a useful reference for promoting the culture of participation in everyday family life.

Ideally conceived as a complete text that has to be read in its various parts, the guidelines are designed as an "experimental" document, which, following monitoring and evaluation, can accommodate changes and additions.