Involving children in Climate citizens’ Assemblies

Reflections from Children’s Parliament’s participation in Scotland’s Climate Assembly

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From October 2020 to March 2021, Children’s Parliament worked with over 100 Members of Children’s Parliament (MCPs) across Scotland aged 7-14 to ensure their views, ideas and calls to action informed Scotland’s Climate Assembly deliberations. 12 of the children became a team of ‘Investigators’, analysing and further exploring the views of their peers, and presenting back their findings to the adult Assembly members. In June 2021, Scotland’s Climate Assembly presented its 81 recommendations and children’s calls to action to the Scottish Parliament on how Scotland should change to tackle the climate emergency in an effective and fair way.

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Hosted by Edinburgh Futures Institute, Childrens' Parliament and Scotland's Climate Assembly, the event was held in Zoom and recorded.

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Contributors:

+Members and organisers from the Children’s Parliament

+Members and organisers from Scotland’s Climate Assembly

+Co-hosted by Oliver Escobar (Edinburgh Futures Institute), Katie Reid and Jessica Smith (Children’s Parliament)

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Scotland’s Climate Assembly was the first citizens’ assembly to have directly involved children under the age of 16, through a partnership with Children’s Parliament.