Turning voice into action: A discussion of three Action Research studies conducted by Danish Children & Youth Network and their learning outcomes

Including beneficiary voices in the design of development programmes is crucial to ensuring their success. While most development practitioners recognise this, we often struggle to do it in a meaningful way. At the Danish Children and Youth NGO Network (C&Y Network), we have begun using Action Research as a means of including the voices of children and young people in our programme design.

This note reviews experiences from three Action Research studies conducted by the C&Y Network and discusses some important learning outcomes. We learned a great deal from each Action Research process. This includes learning on how to involve children in research; making compromises to support the inclusion of local voices; and how to ensure sustainable action based on the research. We hope that this will provide useful lessons for others embarking on similar Action Research projects