The right of children to participate more fully in societies of which they form a part received increasing recognition during the 1990s. Much of the impetus stemmed from the United Nations (UN) Convention on the Rights of the Child (1989) and from the UN Conference on Environment and Development (1992). But not all of it.

Equally significant were the actions of children themselves, many of them small-scale and many of them undertaken with adults. These actions did not represent a groundswell, and often the participants met barriers and scepticism, but across the world a pattern can be observed. It is with the intention of getting inside this development that this book has been written. We refer throughout to the ‘big picture’ – the policies and legislation of governments, the global as well as the local – but the focus is on action and activities in the United Kingdom generated by and on behalf of children. The extent and range of these is astonishing:

• • City-wide initiatives being taken by children's organisations to build coalitions of those working with children and young people to support children's participation.

• • Neighbourhood resources – schools, youth clubs, family centres – which provide vital support for children and young people.

• • Action taken by children and young people themselves either through formally constituted bodies, such as forums and youth councils, or through informal groups and networks.

We intersperse details of these and other projects within the text. We also draw upon specially commissioned research undertaken with groups of children and young people in three areas: Wardle in Rochdale, Bedford, and Dunbarton in Scotland. Locally-based consultants met regularly with the groups and worked with them on a number of questions which had been agreed between them and the authors. This proved to be an invaluable way of rooting the book in the ideas and experiences of children themselves.

The book is concerned with ensuring that children's rights and participation become part of the good practice of professionals whose decisions and interventions impact so much on children's lives. We make the case for taking seriously the need to work with children in the processes of planning better communities.