What thoughts and perceptions do children and young people have about their rights and in particular about their right to have an active role in the different areas of their daily lives? With the aim of developing reflection and analysis, the Ministry of Labour, Health and Social Policy and the National Centre – according to the guidelines of the Action Plan – planned to carry out a national survey on the participation of children and adolescents. The survey was based on a nationally and regionally representative sample of pre-adolescent and adolescent students (11, 13 and 15 years old) who were given a structured questionnaire during the 2008/2009 academic year to complete in their own classes. The survey was carried out in cooperation with the relevant departments of the Ministry of Education, University and Research, using the most suitable spaces and moments of school life to reach a significant sample of participants. To compile a complete picture of the situation, activities were carried out to identify, collect and analyse actual institutional participatory practices or experiences undertaken in the living conditions of the children and young people involved in the research.
The results of the research were published in Quaderno 50 Costruire senso, negoziare spazi – ragazze e ragazzi nella vita quotidiana, (Constructing Meaning, Negotiating Spaces – the daily life of young people) in the series Questioni e Documenti by the National Centre.