Legislation, Policy and Participatory Structures as Opportunities for Children s Participation? A Comparison of Finland and Italy

This article presents a comparison of Finnish and Italian legislation, policy and participatory structures for children and discusses the opportunities for children’s participation in their everyday lives. We will first explain the Finnish and Italian legislation on children through the three Ps—Protection, Provision and Participation—of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child. Secondly, we examine the concrete measures for the implementation of the right to participate and give some examples of children’s involvement. The comparison of the Finnish and Italian situations discloses that children’s participation is conditioned to a certain degree by legislation, but policy and specific projects also play important, although varying roles in children’s opportunities to get involved.