About Us

In order to explore and better understand the connection between children’s rights to participation and protection, the International and Canadian Child Rights Partnership (ICCRP) was established following an international conference held at Toronto Metropolitan University (formerly Ryerson University) in October 2015.

Through our prior work on the interconnections of children's rights to participation and protection, the International & Canadian Child Rights Partnership (ICCRP) identified a critically overlooked element in realizing child rights: intergenerational relationships. The expanded ICCRP will now focus on this new, innovative research direction to examine how intergenerational relationships can transcend current barriers to implementing children's rights, through intergenerational partnerships, in research, policy, and practice.

Primary Research Question

How can intergenerational relationships contribute to, challenge, and transcend barriers to realizing child rights?

Research Objectives

1. Expand conceptual models for intergenerational partnerships;

2. Investigate processes for fostering intergenerational partnerships to support child rights, including youth activism;

3. Identify and develop relational practices (intergenerational, decolonial, cross-national, cross-cultural, ethical) that can reform and stimulate research, public policy, and practice to support child rights; and

4. Explore and analyze child rights education environments and how they support or hinder understanding of child rights among children, as well as intergenerational partnerships.

Informed by relational child rights and decolonization theories, as well as new ethical frameworks, we are engaging in case study analysis in four Research Streams to examine existing innovative initiatives, conduct our own participatory research with young people, and assess child rights education.

Mixed methods are used in each case study, and we analyze data via four Working Groups focused on four cross-cutting themes: participatory methodologies, ethics, policy, and conceptual interconnections. Our diverse mix of countries and case studies will reveal commonalities and unique features across contexts and geographies.

For more information about our current research, feel free to read our  (PDF file) Overview Infographic (opens in new window)