As the Koruncuk Foundation, you have seen child participation as an important part of your work for many years. In the context of the safe living spaces, care, education, and psychosocial support services you offer to girls in the Koruncukköy sites, which are one of your foundation’s core support models, could you tell us a bit about the starting point of your approach to child participation?
Living in a dormitory is actually a shared living experience that is rebuilt each day. The decisions, responsibilities, needs, and sometimes differing opinions that come with living together are all natural parts of this experience. The use of common spaces, the planning of activities, matters concerning daily life, and the many elements required by communal living are part of this experience too.
For this reason, as the Koruncuk Foundation, we have long prioritized creating spaces where children can express their opinions, share their ideas, and contribute to the shaping of their living environments.
We have accompanied the multifaceted development journeys of girls for many years, from education to art, from social life to personal growth. On this journey, we not only care that girls have access to educational opportunities; we also value that they can express themselves, are aware of their rights, and are empowered as active participants in life.
This approach takes on even more meaning especially in the dormitory settings where communal living is experienced. Because spaces where children can share their thoughts and contribute nourish not only individual development; they also foster a sense of inclusiveness, solidarity, and a strong community. Therefore, we strive to create spaces where children can share their thoughts, make their experiences visible, and enrich communal life together; we see child participation as an inseparable part of our work.
What questions did you start out with when you began the Child Participation Mechanisms Support Program?
When starting this program, we were guided by many questions we had long considered about child participation. While addressing the meaning of child participation in dormitory life from different perspectives, we also shaped our work under the guidance of these questions.
In this scope, the following questions were guiding for us: Is receiving children’s opinions the same as strengthening participation? Can participation be limited to certain meetings or feedback mechanisms? How can child participation become a natural part of daily life in a dormitory?
The work we carried out within the scope of the Child Participation Mechanisms Support Program was shaped to some extent around these questions.
Participation is empowered where ideas can become part of processes
So, what kind of space did this open up for you to revisit these questions?
The trainings we received during the program and the expert support in the field of child participation offered us important opportunities to reassess our work together with children and our team members. This process allowed us to view our existing practices from different perspectives and to reconsider child participation in its everyday context.
During this process, we had the opportunity not only to think about child participation as spaces where opinions are shared, but also to consider how communal life is shaped. We reflected together on how ideas are incorporated into decision-making processes, how suggestions are evaluated, and how children can take part at different stages of these processes.
The topics raised, questions asked, and ideas shared during the process made us rethink how varied participation can be. We accumulated many experiences that relate participation not just to expressing opinions, but to thinking together, making needs visible, and developing joint solutions.
Participation deepens when it finds its place in daily life
How did this process and these experiences reflect in daily life?
In the workshops we conducted with children, we discussed communal life, needs, and experiences. But one of the most valuable aspects was that these conversations were not confined to the workshops. Many topics that came up in the workshops reappeared in various ways in the following days— a brief conversation in the corridor, a suggestion brought up at a committee meeting, a need regarding the use of shared spaces, or a discussion topic opened up at the student council…
The moments that prompted the most thought about participation sometimes emerged exactly in these everyday contexts. The resurfacing of a suggestion voiced by children, curiosity about the outcome of a project, or the continuation of an exchange of ideas about a matter concerning communal life all provided important clues about the continuity of participation. Perhaps this is why it doesn’t seem possible to limit child participation only to certain meetings or mechanisms. Because participation often finds its place in the relationships formed in daily life, in the conversations had, and in the processes run together.
Shared living is empowered by shared responsibilities
So, what role did the student council and committees take on?
The discussions that began in the workshops were later reflected in the activities of the student council and committees as well. The student council and committees became important structures strengthening child participation in dormitory life. The student council created a platform where children could bring up issues concerning dormitory life and share their opinions and suggestions; while committees provided spaces for children gathered around specific work areas to plan, generate ideas, and carry out activities.
Thanks to these structures, children not only found the opportunity to share their own views, but also experienced listening to each other, considering different ideas, determining common priorities, and making decisions together. Sometimes these efforts made a need visible; at other times, they opened up spaces for reflecting on issues concerning communal life. These activities contributed to making participation a natural part of everyday life. The student council and committees reminded us once again of the value of spaces where different ideas can come together, be discussed, and be evaluated on common ground.
Experiences built together, principles written together
We know the program also produced a concrete outcome. Could you tell us a bit about the Child Participation Guidelines?
One of the important outcomes of the program process was the Koruncuk Child Participation Guidelines. When preparing these guidelines, our aim was not only to document the existing practices. Together with children, our team, and the expert support accompanying us throughout the process, we discussed how we define participation, which principles we prioritize, and how we can make this approach sustainable.
Documenting the guidelines was important for us in that it made visible, within a shared framework, the understanding of child participation we developed together throughout the process. We see child participation not just as a component of specific activities, but as a natural part of communal living and our institutional culture. Therefore, we regard supporting our shared approach to child participation with a written guide as a significant step that will contribute to strengthening and sustaining this culture.
Of course, we do not see these guidelines as a completed document. We see it as a living document which we will periodically reassess together with children and our team, and improve upon in line with our experiences and needs. Because we believe that, just like communal living, child participation is a continually developing, evolving, and collectively rethought process.
In this respect, the guidelines are more than just a document defining processes; they serve as a written reflection of the activities we have carried out, the experiences we have shared, and the approach we have developed together throughout the process. Looking back today, one can see in the guidelines not only the mechanisms, but also traces of the joint learning process conducted together.
Participation is not an outcome, but an ongoing journey
Finally, why is it important to keep reflecting on child participation?
When working in the field of child participation, we encounter more new questions than definitive answers. How can we be more inclusive? How can we make children’s participation more visible in more areas of daily life? How can we build new spaces where we can shape communal living together?
Perhaps what keeps child participation dynamic is partly these very questions. One of the issues we have frequently considered is how we can strengthen the continuity of child participation. We have once again experienced that participation is more meaningful and sustainable when it becomes a natural part of daily life, rather than being limited to specific periods of activity. Therefore, we continue to consider child participation not just through certain tools or mechanisms, but as an important part of our institutional culture and communal life.
As the Koruncuk Foundation, we approach child participation by believing in the power of children’s experiences, ideas, and perspectives to enrich communal living. Because we know that child participation is not a completed project; it is a process that is learned anew, rebuilt, and continues to grow each day. Perhaps what makes this journey meaningful is precisely this: continuing to reflect together with children on how communal living can become more inclusive, fairer, and stronger…