Uniting for Children and Youth is working to bring attention to the good work being done by others to unite us in the task of aligning education with human rights and democratic principles.
Upcoming Events – Details below
September 30th, Tuesday, 3:30-4:30 UTC
YouthxYouth
October 11, Saturday, 9:30 AM – 4pm GMT+1
Everyone Thriving: How Can We Promote Wellbeing and a Love of Learning?“
November 8
AERO conference now calling for youth speakers
January 24, 2026
Watch here for details of the 2026 Learning Planet Festival
Other – see below
– Reading
– The Future of RCE Making Change Stick
Descriptions of Upcoming Events
September 30th, Tuesday, 3:30-4:30 UTC
YouthxYouth
Over the coming weeks, we’ll gather again to nurture the futures that called to us most strongly. If you felt that tug, that sense of “yes, this is alive, this wants to grow,” then we need you in the next phase. Let us know, by September 20th, which future is calling your name, and sign up to join us in the sacred work of bringing it into being. Starting September 30th, we’ll meet every other Tuesday, 3:30-4:30 UTC.
If you weren’t able to be fully present on September 2nd, or if you want to deepen into the possibilities before choosing your path, we’ve gathered the essence from each conversation. Please feel free to go through the recordings below. We are also attaching the harvest documents from each of the breakouts representing the different futures, for you to get a sense of the discussions already in process.
Breakout #1: Decentralised YxY Recording
Harvest Document
Breakout #2: YxY Media and Storytelling Organisation Recording
Harvest Document
Breakout #3: YxY Integrating YxY into other Organisations Recording
Harvest Document
Recommendation sheet for Future #3
Breakout #4: A Glorious Celebration and Remembrance of YxY Recording
Harvest Document
This is not dreaming for dreaming’s sake (though we love a good dream). This is the work of making dreams real. This is choosing a future and then showing up, again and again, to tend it into existence. We look forward to seeing you!
October 11, Saturday, 9:30 AM – 4pm GMT+1
Everyone Thriving: How Can We Promote Wellbeing and a Love of Learning?“
You’re invited to attend the upcoming “Everyone Thriving: How Can We Promote Wellbeing and a Love of Learning?“ unconference on Saturday, October 11. There’ll be a virtual Zoom room, and if you’re near the UK – consider attending in-person! https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/everybody-thriving-how-can-we-promote-wellbeing-and-a-love-of-learning-tickets-1388622269589.
If you are a LinkedIn member please feel welcome to share this post: Dr. James Mannion’s post.
This will be an ‘unconference’. There will be no powerpoints, no panels, no lectures. Just real people sharing what already works – and generating practical ideas for change.
November 8
AERO conference now calling for youth speakers
Calling youth presenters 25 & under. Share what you’re working on. Submit a proposal here. https://bit.ly/youthpresenter. Registration for participants will open soon. Contact us for more details: peter@educationrevolution.org
Reading
”For people wishing to bridge between conventional schooling and democratic education, the article Wellbeing in Schools: Details of a pathway to mental health provides much of what needs to be considered to make change a positive experience for everyone in a school community. Never Under-Estimate Student Power is a companion article written for students who wish to initiate change in their schools. Anyone who reads the article and thinks they have a strong chance of introducing more democratic practices in their school is welcome to contact Uniting for Children and Youth to discuss the possibilities.
The Future of RCE Making Change Stick
The goal of RCE Making Change Stick has been to help grow a movement that brings rights respecting education to the mainstream. It presents a problem in need of a solution that can be equated to taking an idea from dream to reality. From this perspective, My Life, My Education and the Rights-Centric Education Network – RCEN can be regarded as prototypes that have not taken off, but they have taken us a good step closer to something that can fly.
What Has Been Learn?
- Respect for human rights are essential to wellbeing. A person’s mental health is impacted when their rights are violated, but the focus on rights is being questioned. It is suggested that it be shifted to wellbeing in order to resonate better with the general public. There is consequently a call to create the next prototype with wellbeing the core, and there appears to be interest among some people to get it defined.
- A problem that would partially disappear with the right prototype is that of establishing greater buy-in from the community of people who are already advocating for rights-centric education. Despite there being over 160 founders of the Rights-Centric Education Network, and a considerably larger number who have signed its Declaration of Child Rights-Centric Education, they are largely not working together. “Group collaborative capacity”, a term John Jones of World Systems Solutions has introduced to the discussion, is lacking. His document titled Conscious Collaboration is informative about what is needed to build that capacity.
- The implementation of change is as important as the change itself. In Making Change Stick, James Mannion describes how slice teams can be used to include the perspectives of everyone impacted by change initiatives.