VUB launches Child Citizen Lab for research with children, not about them

VUB launches Child Citizen Lab for research with children, not about them

A new center of expertise for child-inclusive science

On Wednesday, May 21, 2025, the Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB) will launch the Child Citizen Lab, an interdisciplinary initiative led by Professor Els Dumortier. The project focuses on developing scientific practices in which children and young people are engaged as full citizens and co-researchers.

The Child Citizen Lab aims to become a centre of expertise for co-creative, ethical, and inclusive research with children and young people. The Lab brings together researchers from various disciplines around a shared goal: the development and implementation of ethical guidelines, methodologies, and best practices for conducting research with, rather than about, children.

Children and young people are still too often excluded from meaningful participation in research and policymaking, despite their direct involvement in today's societal challenges. The Child Citizen Lab is based on the conviction that children have the right to a voice and shared responsibility, including within academia.

A striking example is how young people in Belgium and elsewhere were criminalized during the climate marches, while they are the very ones — according to recent studies such as those by Save the Children — who will bear the brunt of climate change (Will you lead an unprecedented life? | Vrije Universiteit Brussel). Children who are five years old today will, on average, experience seven times more extreme heatwaves than their grandparents. Yet their voices are rarely considered in climate policy.

The Child Citizen Lab seeks to address this fundamental imbalance in knowledge production by systematically involving children and young people in formulating research questions, collecting data, and interpreting results. By recognizing them as active citizens, science can become more responsive, representative, and socially relevant.

The Lab also aims to have a structural impact on academia: by providing a platform for interdisciplinary collaboration, it will develop and apply guidelines and models that support researchers in the ethical and effective involvement of young people in their work.


Contact:

Prof. Els Dumortier

Tel: available on demand

E-mail: els.dumortier@vub.be

Koen Stein
Koen Stein Centraal aanspreekpunt pers

 

 

 

 

About Press - Vrije Universiteit Brussel

Vrije Universiteit Brussel is an internationally oriented university in Brussels, the heart of Europe. By providing excellent research and education on a human scale, VUB wants to make an active and committed contribution to a better society.

The World Needs You

The Vrije Universiteit Brussel assumes its scientific and social responsibility with love and decisiveness. That’s why VUB launched the platform De Wereld Heeft Je Nodig – The World Needs You, which brings together ideas, actions and projects based on six Ps. The first P stands for People, because that’s what it’s all about: giving people equal opportunities, prosperity, welfare, respect. Peace is about fighting injustice, big and small, in the world. Prosperity combats poverty and inequality. Planet stands for actions on biodiversity, climate, air quality, animal rights... With Partnership, VUB is looking for joint actions to make the world a better place. The sixth and last P is for Poincaré, the French philosopher Henri Poincaré, from whom VUB derives its motto that thinking should submit to nothing except the facts themselves. VUB is an ‘urban engaged university’, strongly anchored in Brussels and Europe and working according to the principles of free research.

www.vub.be/dewereldheeftjenodig

 


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