Similar narratives from children in care have been identified in South Africa and Sweden, signalling that children in care need to be heard and respected for their capabilities to influence social change. Many significant decisions directly affecting their lives are made without their participation. This violates their rights and, in particular, the right to participate in matters that concern them. International treaties such as the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC, 1989) and regional and local policy and legislation in Sweden and South Africa stipulate that children should participate in decisions that affect their well-being. These policy directives are essential for social workers responsible for services to children in alternative care as they are obligated to adhere to them. However, there is uncertainty about how to understand the concept of child participation, how to utilise it in practice to ensure the best interest of the child principle, and what challenges that are connected to the implementation.This workshop invites attendees to take part of a presentation of our mutual work so far and to explore responses to questions about the participation of children in alternative care  . Attendees will discuss topics such as: What is child participation? What examples do you have of how children can participate in decision-making? What do you need or want to enable work on child participation? AND - How can participation be a part of social change?In order to create an inviting and engaging environment, the workshop will take place as a fika (https://www.nordicvisitor.com/blog/nordic-eats-the-swedish-art-of-fika/). Some people may think of "Fika" as similar to the World Café concept, and we aim to facilitate meaningful conversations with a more participatory approach. In our version, we may or may not rotate between tables depending on the number and interests of the attendees. Insights and findings will be summarised in a final reflection with all participants. Lecture hall 208, Dept of Social Work, Allhelgona kyrkogata 8, Lund

Sverige har historiskt höga uppmätta nivåer av tillit. Studier visar dock på en nedåtgående trend, särskilt hos ungdomar. Höga tillitsnivåer återfinns främst på landsbygden, där tilliten ibland byggs på social kontroll och låg acceptans för normbrytande beteende. Denna studie handlar om på vilket sätt tillit påverkar ungas vardag och identitet på landsbygden. Empiriinsamlingen består av fokusgruppsintervjuer. Analysen visar på tre övergripande kategorier tillika sociala identiteter: vi, vi annorlunda och de andra. Kategorin vi omfattar alla ”kända” som bor i samhället och är en central identitet för ungdomarna. Den beskrivs också som den starkast bidragande orsaken till den höga tilliten, så stark att den kunde motivera till risktagande. Kategorin vi annorlunda innefattade några få medborgare i samhället, ibland även ungdomarna själva. Sista kategorin, de andra, var personer utan social förankring i samhället. Dessa personer var okända som ungdomarna beskrev att de försökt undvika kontakt med, vilket riskerade möjligheten och tillgången till breddade sociala erfarenheter.

Trust levels in Sweden have historically been shown to be high, although decreasing within the younger generation. Rural societies show the highest levels of trust built on social control and low acceptance of norm-breaking behaviours. This study aims to investigate the ways trust affects the everyday life and identities of youth in a Swedish rural community through interviews with a total of twelve participants. The analysis shows that three social identities emerged: us, us different, and the others. The us category encompasses all the trusted inhabitants in the community and is a central identity to the interviewees. It is also described as the largest contributor to the high levels of trust. Us different contained a few members of the community and occasionally also the interviewees themselves. The final category, the others, were people described as “unknown” making the interviewees hesitant to seek contact with them, risking access to social experiences.

Introduction and background of the topic:Similar challenges have been identified in South Africa and Sweden signaling that children in care might not be heard or respected and not recognised for their capabilities to influence social change. Many significant decisions directly affecting their lives are made without their participation. This is a violation of their rights and in particular, the right to participate in matters that concern them. International treaties such as the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC, 1989), as well as regional and local policy and legislation in Sweden and South Africa stipulate that children should participate in decisions that affect their well-being. These policy directives are important for social workers who are responsible for services to children in alternative care as they are obligated to adhere to these directives. However, there is uncertainty about how social workers understand the concept of child participation, how it is utilised in practice to ensure the best interest of the child principle, how do they adhere to policy and legislative directives and what challenges they may experience in implementation.

Relevance of the topic to the Swedish and South African Context:Our study analysed and compared the policy and legislation of South Africa and Sweden to understand the directives for child participation and how it influence the daily work with children in alternative care and their opportunities for participation. Continuing our study, this workshop would present the preliminary findings of a World Cafe with social workers working with children in alternative care, held in South Africa in March 2024 and Sweden in May 2024. It would also extend our understanding of child participation with vulnerable children to influence social change through discussions with other interdisciplinary professionals and students within the SASUF network. This would benefit both the Swedish and the South African Context in that there is a moral and legal imperative that children should have opportunities for participation in matters concerning social change.

Aim/Purpose of the workshop:The workshop's aim is twofold:

To discuss and further our understanding of interdisciplinary professionals' views on implementing child participation to influence social change.To present our collaborative project to the SASUF audience.

How we plan to develop future collaborations and activities beyond the forum:The research team, consisting of seven researchers from South Africa and Sweden, have worked together since 2019 and has already conducted workshops in South Africa and online for Swedish and South African social workers, and has published articles in peer-reviewed journals. In March 2024, the team will work together in Pretoria by conducting a World Café for South African social workers. A similar event will take place in Sweden in May 2024. The outcomes of the respective country World Cafés in South Africa and Sweden will contribute a solid base for the team’s future research into how children’s participation in alternative care can be more effectively implemented in both countries. It is essential to begin the process with social workers as they are the gatekeepers to access children. In the next project phase, we will continue by obtaining and including the voices of the children.

The World Café model was created by Juanita Brown and David Isaacs as a method to facilitate meaningful conversations in a more engaging and participatory approach. By using strategies such as an inviting environment, groups at small tables, rotations between tables, making notes at the table to be left for the next group, and harvesting of insights at the end, the World Café model supports creative thinking and problem-solving. The model is easy to use, and leave participants feeling empowered by the diversity of perspectives and the way the model enables them to collectively develop insights.

This workshop will be informed by preliminary findings from two earlier World Cafés with social workers and social work students in Sweden and South Africa respectively – on responses to questions such as: What is child participation and social change? What examples do you have of how children can participate in decision-making? 

In this workshop, we will use the preliminary findings of the two World Cafés with social workers to formulate questions to be discussed in this workshop’s interactive World Café with interdisciplinary academics and students, to help further triangulate the findings.

I en studie av erfarenheter av och barns delaktighet i det så kallade TIPS-projektets arbete mot problematisk skolfrånvaro i mellanstadiet har hållits observationer av skol- och kartläggningsmöten, fokusgruppsintervjuer med TIPS samt intervjuer med familjer. Resultatet uppvisar liknande erfarenheter och en relativt god samsyn kring de olika aktörernas roller. Barnets delaktighet anses vara av stor vikt men samtidigt svår att få till samt är avhängig såväl föräldrarnas samtycke som barnets egen vilja. Vidare ses en viss skepsis kring högre delaktighetsnivåer som innebär att dela makt och ansvar, då det anses kunna ge negativa konsekvenser för barnet. Barnets delaktighet och aktörernas roller kan ses som sammanvävda, då delaktigheten kan förbättra insatserna och stärka barnet samtidigt som barnets röst riskerar att försvinna i den komplexa samverkan.

Research studies and a multitude of reports in both countries have signaled that children in care, avulnerable group in society, are not heard or respected for their capabilities to influence social change.This in disagreement with the Declaration of the Rights of the Child, and the Convention on the Rights of the Child, legislation and steering documents both in South Africa and Sweden. Childrens’participation in their own development and decision-making is fundamental fortheir current and futurewell-being as well as the future of the society. The aim of this South African and Swedish study is to contribute knowledge and social development strategies for social change through child agency andparticipation by joint research projects among the participating universities, capacity development ofemerging researchers and postgraduate students by including them in workshops in South Africa andSweden, discussions with local NGOs and government departments and to advance knowledge in addressing issues of child agency, participation and social transformation. In October 2021, as a partof this project, a digital workshop with the participation of researchers and practitioners in Swedenand South Africa and in collaboration with UNICEF was conducted. Social workers from Swedenand South Africa presented projects on participation of children in care and also strategies forimplementing the Rights of the Child in the municipalities. The results of the different projects werediscussed in multinational break-out rooms in a world café model.

I ett samverkansprojekt mellan BUV och Grästorps kommun har ungas tillit till Grästorp som plats och organisation studerats. Tillit för med sig stora samhälleliga vinster, både i form av högre trygghet hos medborgarna men också starkare ekonomiskt tillväxt; kort sagt är en hög tillit en förutsättning för ett gott samhälle. Tidigare forskning visar att tilliten grundas i de tidigare tonåren, varför det är av nytta att se till hur tilliten ser ut just bland unga. Följande frågeställningar ställdes upp gemensamt med kommunrepresentanter och forskare: 

•    Vad skapar tillit bland Grästorps unga invånare?

•     Hur kan tilliten till kommunen utvecklas och stärkas bland Grästorps unga invånare?

Med hjälp av lärare på Grästorps högstadieskola skapades kontakt med nionde klass-elever. 14 anmälde sig till fokusgruppintervjuer, vilka pga. pandemin förlades till e-plattformen Zoom. Till intervjuerna ombads de unga att ta med sig bilder på platser de tyckte om att vara på och platser som de upplevde otrygga på olika sätt. Resultaten visar att de unga har en stark lokalsamhälletillit: de känner sig trygga i Grästorp och med de invånare de känner igen och känner till. Däremot har de svag generell tillit, de känner låg tillit till främmande personer. De upplever även att samhället är starkt normativt och att de inte alltid blir hörda då de behöver ha med en vuxen som för deras talan.

I Norden är den sociala tilliten så hög att inga andra länder kommer i ens närheten av samma nivåer. Det för med sig samhälleliga vinster, då tillit är som ett smörjmedel som gör att kommunikationen flyter smidigare på såväl samhälls- som individnivå, vilket gör att det lämnas mindre utrymme för konflikter med påföljande kostnader. En hög social tillit ger därmed en starkare ekonomisk tillväxt samtidigt som den engagerar medborgare i samhället och ökar den individuella lyckan (Nordiska ministerrådet, 2017; Trägårdh etal., 2013). Enkelt uttryckt är tillit en förutsättning för ett gott liv och ett välfungerande samhälle (Blennberger, 2009).Grästorps kommun har i samverkan med Högskolan Väst undersökt tilliten till kommunen. Genom egna efterforskningar hade man funnit att kommunens gymnasieungdomar saknade en naturlig dialog med kommunstyret, och då man stod inför en implementering av tillitsbaserad styrning, vilken förutsätter dialog med medborgarna, önskade man studera tillliten till kommunen bland Grästorps unga invånare. I ett samverkansprojekt mellan Grästorps kommun och forskarna Linda Mossberg och Ann Liss från Högskolan Väst formulerades därför följande frågeställningar:

• Vad skapar tillit bland Grästorps unga invånare?

• Hur kan tilliten till kommunen utvecklas och stärkas bland Grästorps unga invånare?

Inledningsvis kan sägas att Grästorp inte är undantaget den generellt höga tilliten i Norden. Ungdomarna i studien sammanfattar det när de pratar om ”Grästorpssyndromet”, ett ord som rymmer en uppfattning om Grästorp som en trygg plats som man gärna återvänder till. I de fokusgrupper som hållits framkommer bilden av Grästorp som en plats där alla känner – eller känner till – alla och litar på varandra. I det följande kommer den bilden att analyseras och diskuteras. Vad bär den med sig och hur kan tilliten stärkas ytterligare?