A transformative gathering to boost child participation around the world

How it began in 2021

Hosted in Caux, Switzerland, the C.A.T.S. Forum was initiated in 2012 by Initiatives of Change (IofC) France in partnership with IofC Switzerland, Child to Child and with the support of the Learning for Well-being Foundation, which joined the year after as an official partner. Other partners have also joined at different stages: a group of children and young people established as M.E.O.W (since 2016) and Eurochild at first as an organizing partner (2015 and 2016) and after, as an associate partner.

6 ditions: 1600 children and adults

The original partner’s commitment enabled the Forum for 5 years, extending to two more years until 2019. Throughout the 6 editions of the C.A.T.S. Forum, more than 1600 children and adults have participated in a living experience of intergenerational collaboration to advance children’s rights and well-being, in particular the right for children to be heard and be taken seriously. The C.A.T.S. Forum has inspired initiatives from school days (Belgium) to national networks (Israel), National Forum (France) and regional fora (Latin America and Asia). 6 years of modelling, inspiring and enabling child participation. Click here to read all reports from the previous CATS editions.

Ending of CATS,beginning of something new

Despite the magic lived at the Forum, holding the event and its associated activities was not always easy. For all those involved, this process has been a source of great learning about the meaning and the boundaries of creating environments where children can engage in meaningful participation at all levels. This learning journey led the partners mentioned above to reach the conclusion that they would now like to express their commitment to children’s rights in a way that best suits their respective vocations. Therefore, the CATS partnership dissolved at the beginning of 2019 and the CATS program ended.