Environment, Rights, Children

BlueLink is part of the "Environment, Rights, Children" (ENRICH) project as one of seven European partners focusing on protecting children's rights in the context of the impending climate crisis. The main objective of this project is to raise awareness about the intersection of the climate crisis and children's rights and affirm their ability to have a voice on environmental and climate change issues.

Over the next 18 months, BlueLink will conduct three seminars on children's rights and participation in environmental and climate issues. These seminars will address the implementation of requirements for the evaluation of children's rights in practice, the presentation of related EU legislation, and the sharing of results from national research. These seminars will be aimed at different stakeholder groups, including experts and activists in the field of environment and children's rights, environmental education teachers, NGOs working in the area of children's participation rights, and official bodies responsible for the welfare of children.

As part of the project, BlueLink will actively contribute to communication activities in all participating countries, collaborating with media outlets to promote planned conferences and disseminate research findings. Our English-language news portal will offer editorial support to journalists interested in writing articles on climate, environmental, and children's rights topics, and provide a platform for publishing their work.

The project aims to promote a comprehensive approach that recognizes children's right to life, survival, and healthy development, as well as ensuring their participation in decision-making processes related to the environment. Although there is an extensive legal-political framework governing children's rights and participation, there remains a gap between rhetoric and reality, as theoretical participation principles often do not translate into practical implementation of full-fledged participation of children in the development and execution of environmental policies that significantly affect them.

The project will conduct surveys and interviews with key stakeholders to assess current levels of awareness regarding children's rights in the context of environmental policy formulation. It will also organize a series of national trainings designed to familiarize key environmental stakeholders with children's participation rights and methods for their application. Two international events for knowledge exchange, presentation of research results, and offering specific recommendations to EU policymakers on the guidelines of the EU and the practical implementation of participation policies for children in climate action are also planned.

Our primary target groups are environmental NGOs and activists, child rights advocates, environmental education teachers, and official authorities and politicians engaged in children's issues and the environment. The expected outcomes of the project include an international study with data from 7 EU countries, 21 national events, 2 international events, a set of advocacy materials, and practical support for implementing specific measures related to the EU Strategy for the Rights of the Child.