Collaborative Pathways in Child Participatory Research for Health and Wellbeing

Children’s voices and agency are increasingly recognized as essential in research and practice aimed at improving their health and wellbeing. Article 12 of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child affirms the right of every child to express their views freely in all matters affecting them and to have those views given due weight in accordance with their age and maturity. This also means that children should be involved as equal partners in research relating to them. Yet children are still too often positioned as subjects of research rather than active contributors or co-creators of knowledge. Collaborative and action research methodologies, including Participatory Action Research and Community Based Participatory Research, offer pathways for shifting this paradigm. They democratize knowledge production, strengthen social and health equity, and enable children to meaningfully shape the systems, environments, and policies that affect their lives.This Research Topic, initiated by the Kids in Action working group of the International Collaboration for Participatory Health Research (ICPHR), responds to the uneven development of child participatory action research across disciplines and practice settings. Many studies rely on limited forms of involvement, unclear methodological definitions, or adult-centered interpretations of children’s needs. Existing research often focuses on isolated activities rather than sustained collaboration, and tends to emphasize individual outcomes rather than the broader social, structural, and relational conditions that shape child wellbeing. Strengthening collaborative pathways requires moving beyond traditional models of child engagement towards co-creation, shared governance, and cross-sector partnerships. This includes developing ethical and inclusive methods that address power imbalances, ensuring accessibility for marginalized groups, and integrating children’s perspectives into health systems, social services, education, and community development. This Research Topic seeks to advance conceptual, methodological, and applied contributions that integrate social and health sciences, so that research generates knowledge-based practices aligned with children’s lived realities and supports equitable wellbeing outcomes.We welcome interdisciplinary work on how children engage as co-researchers, how participatory action leads to meaningful change, and how collaborative structures strengthen child health and wellbeing across diverse contexts. Contributions may draw from public health, social work, education, psychology, sociology, child and youth studies, community development, and health promotion. Themes include, but are not limited to:• Conceptual advances and new frameworks for child agency, power sharing, rights-based participation, and wellbeing.• Methodological innovation, including participatory action research tools, co-design methods, longitudinal collaboration models, and ethical approaches to child involvement.• Child-led initiatives and community-based collaborations with children and young people influencing policy, service design, and community change.• Participatory research with children and young people in vulnerable life circumstances, addressing social inequalities and designing inclusive participatory environments.• Grassroots initiatives and multisectoral partnerships involving schools, health systems, social services, civil society, community organizations and families.• Policy and system research examining how participatory action research informs health and social policy, organizational practice, and ethical governance.We welcome Original Research, Systematic Reviews, Reviews, Methods, and Perspective articles. Topic editors: Rathi Ramji, Lisette Farias Source: https://www.frontiersin.org/research-topics/87171/collaborative-pathways-in-child-participatory-research-for-health-and-wellbeing