About Rejuvenate

The image is of a Venn diagram. The two circles read "child/youth-led work" and "social change work". The overlapping part has an arrow which reads "our focus".

‘Rejuvenate’ is a project that recognises the value that children and young people can bring when they are given the space and support to do so. It began with a process to collate and map previous and current child rights projects that exhibit substantive participation with children and youth people.

We drew from existing practitioner and academic literature, field experts and exemplary projects. We brought all three of these elements together in what we are calling a ‘living archive’, an evolving database of projects, resources, organisations and people.

The archive draws on literature from children’s and youth geographies, the sociology and anthropology of childhood and youth, education, international development, and documents that elaborate on projects that include children and young people.

Our ‘living archive’ forms the basis of what we hope will become a resource hub for projects and practitioners working at the intersection between child/youth-led work and social change work.

Watch our animation:

Created in collaboration with the Rights Studio.

Rejuvenate Dialogues

We have been convening a series of discussions as part of our efforts to bring together academics, practitioners and activists working in the field of child and youth rights and participation. You can find out more about the Dialogues in our short summary papers below:

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The Rejuvenate team

Tessa Lewin is a Research Fellow in the Participation, Inclusion and Social Change cluster at the Institute of Development Studies, where she co-convenes the MA in Gender and Development. Her work involves creative, visual and participatory research, teaching and communication. Her recent research has focused on gender politics, sexuality, visual activism and child rights. Her doctoral research investigated the nature of queer visual activism in South Africa. She is well-known for her work as a creative facilitator, often with children and young people, and has worked on projects involving digital storytelling, PhotoVoice, radio drama, animation, and participatory video

Vicky Johnson is Director of the Centre for Remote and Sustainable Communities at the University of the Highlands and Islands (UHI Inverness). She is also an Honorary Associate at IDS. She has over 20 years of experience leading international teams as a principal investigator, complemented by her entrepreneurship and multi-stakeholder engagement in the international non-governmental organisation (NGO) sector. Research interests include understanding how marginalised people can be supported as agents of change in rapidly changing environmental, political and cultural contexts. Recent research includes: Youth Uncertainty Rights (YOUR) World Research with marginalised youth in Ethiopia and Nepal (Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC)- FCDO’s Poverty Alleviation Fund). Vicky’s most recent book with West is: Children’s Participation in Global Contexts: Going Beyond Voice (2018, Routledge).

Mariah Cannon is a Research Officer at the Institute of Development Studies and holds a Masters in International Development. Her current work focuses on children’s and youth participation in promoting children’s rights and community development. Recent projects include work on ethically involving children with disabilities in research, and tackling the drivers of child labour and modern slavery in South and Southeast Asia.

Jennifer Uchendu is an ecofeminist and sustainable development advocate based in Lagos. She is the founder of SustyVibes, a youth-led organisation making sustainability actionable and relatable to young people. Jennifer is a sustainability communicator, analyst and founder of SustyVibes – a social enterprise making sustainability actionable for young people in Nigeria. Jennifer’s interests lie between the intersects of youth, women and climate action. Recently, she focused her research on intersectional eco-anxiety in youth climate activists.

Alice Webb is a Communications and Impact Officer at the Institute of Development Studies. Alice has a particularly strong interest in participatory methods and approaches in the topics of children and youth, gender, and sanitation and hygiene. Alice’s academic background is in languages and feminist literature, and she is interested in creating compelling and accessible stories from international development research.

Join our network

As part of our work, we are bringing together thinkers and doers in the fields of child rights and children and youth participation. We convene events, share news on a quarterly basis, and update our website with newly submitted content. If you’re interested in talking to us and hearing about our news, please send us a message using the form below.