Conference

Children's rights under pressure in a changing world: Need for a new research agenda?

• Ann Skelton

Date

Thursday 16 October 2025 - Friday 17 October 2025

Address

Kamerlingh Onnes Gebouw
Steenschuur 25
2311 ES Leiden

The 11th CREAN Children’s Rights Research PhD Symposium brings together doctoral candidates and supervisors from different universities and disciplines. Its aim is to actively promote exchange and cooperation. The Symposium offers an opportunity to hear about current, cutting edge research by PhD's and to work together on a research agenda for children´s rights.

The overall theme of the Symposium is: Children's Rights under pressure in a changing world: Need for a new research agenda?

In 2023, UNICEF spoke of a ‘poly-crisis’, as multiple, interdependent, crises are impacting on children's rights which cause strain on basic necessities such as food, hamper the development of sustainable energy, and threaten democratic rights. In this context the backlash against children's rights is growing. The armed conflicts around the world directly affect families and children every day. Meanwhile, international solidarity is dwindling and human rights are pushed back on.

This has led us to the central question for this year's Symposium: what kind of children's rights research, and what kind of children's rights researcher, does the current time ask for? And is there a need to renew the children's rights research agenda?

Programme

The symposium takes place from midday Thursday 16 until the afternoon of Friday 17 October 2025. A more detailed draft programme of the symposium will be share here soon.

Call for papers

We welcome abstracts for presentations by PhD students. Presenters are encouraged to present their work and to engage with the central question of the Symposium: what kind of children’s rights research, and what kind of children’s rights researcher, does the current time demand?  

Abstracts should be submitted by sending them to [e-mail] by Monday 2 June 2025.

Submissions should contain the following information:

1. Title/topic of presentation
2. Name, e-mail, institutional affiliation and name of academic supervisor
3. Abstract of maximum 400 words in which the key themes of the project are describe – research questions, theoretical starting points, methodology, main results etc. The abstract should also contain an explanation of how the presentation will speak to the overall theme of the Symposium.

Abstracts will be evaluated by the Organizing Committee with the overarching goal of maximising presentation opportunities for a broad spectrum of PhD students. All selected abstracts will be allocated a panel.

PhD students can send their abstract individually, or they can create a panel (minimum 3 speakers, maximum 5). If you wish to send in a panel please make sure to send in a clear title and description of the panel, in addition to the information above for each individual speaker.

 

Deadlines

• 2 June 2025: deadline for 400 words abstracts from PhD students
• 20 June 2025: confirmation to PhD students from Organising Committee of possibility to present
• 1 September 2025: confirmation from PhD students of their own and their supervisor’s attendance
• 15 September 2025: registration deadline for non-presenting attendees
• 29 September 2025: all presenting PhD’s must submit an extended 1,000 words abstract and include full references.

Contact information

For questions, please do not hesitate to contact: [e-mail].