Response to Reviews of Diálogo de Saberes sobre participación infantil [A Dialogue of Knowledges about Child Participation

Abstract

688 Children, Youth and Environments Vol. 17 No. 2 (2007) ISSN: 1546-2250 Response to Reviews of Diálogo de Saberes sobre participación infantil [A Dialogue of Knowledges about Child Participation] Yolanda Corona María Morfín Citation: Corona, Yolanda and María Morfín. (2007). "Response to Reviews of Diálogo de Saberes sobre participación infantil [A Dialogue of Knowledges about Child Participation]." Children, Youth and Environments 17 (2). When we first thought of writing this book, several civil society initiatives for the promotion of child and youth participation were flourishing in Mexico. This was a pioneering work for which no path existed, and therefore we shared, on one hand, the joy of reclaiming Utopia in order to build a much better world together with the new generations, and, on the other, a great amount of questions and doubts that called for shared reflection. At that time there were very few books or texts in Spanish on this subject that might support discussion about participatory practice. From the beginning of the project, we suggested working directly with practitioners so as to interweave the knowledge generated from practice and the concepts and propositions of various authors, and thus reveal the complexity of working to make society open to participation practices. We feel that the effort of compiling and putting in one volume the voices of practitioners and those of academics has helped those interested in participation to obtain an overview of the subject. We have been very encouraged by feedback we have received from our colleagues in Spain, Colombia, Uruguay, and other Latin American countries who found this book helpful in their work and were motivated by it to produce other materials for training and reflection. 689 After six years, the interest in the subject of child and youth participation has grown in Mexico and has attracted new actors. Besides the civil society organizations that traditionally had taken on this task, now there are projects and programs by governmental institutions at the local, state, and national levels. There is a clear intention to open forums for young people to express themselves and influence the reality in which they live. The present challenge is to continue the dialogue to include these new actors, in order to reflect on the lessons learned, the challenges to be faced, and the possible alliances that may arise among the various sectors of society. Another aspect that is missing is young people themselves in the dialogue of knowledge. Although there are some projects in which they are the ones who make the assessments and speak about their own experiences, there is still a long way to go for their views to become more present and widespread in written and audio-visual media. Now that there is a greater worldwide understanding of the need to include young people’s voices, we should sharpen our listening ability and become mediators so that they may exercise their right to produce knowledge about the reality that they face. You can download the book Diálogo de Saberes sobre participación infantil at http://www.uam.mx/cdi/dialogo/. For further information on the Child Program at the Autonomous Metropolitan University, visit:http://www.uam.mx/cdi. ...