In this paper, it is argued that we are in a ‘postpaternalist’ era for children’s rights, involving grassroots action from children (for the first time, on a global scale) rather than well-meaning adults ‘giving’ children their rights. Child/youth climate action has involved under-18s acting for the environment through grassroots protest, media work and lobbying. The UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) has arguably to date been approached in a paternalist way, whereby children need adults to help them to access rights. Yet, child/youth climate advocates have taken their own action, and demand equality as they enter rights spaces. They are frequently working with adults as equals and allies in litigating climate cases, for example. It is argued that (although there are rights challenges in a postpaternalist time) these young rights leaders have transformed human rights for the better, and adults should facilitate their work in a way that is child- and youth-friendly.

Globally, humans face innumerable socioeconomic, cultural, and environmental problems while being threatened by ever more interconnected and complex geopolitical concerns. In this planetary context, unidisciplinary research and related teaching approaches often work to constrain our ability to move beyond institutional and bureaucratic mind-sets to become agents of social change within local systems impacting children. During its 40-year evolution from a sub-discipline of psychology, the international field of child and youth studies has sought common ground for interpreting these pedagogical and professional issues. Many authors now argue for transdisciplinary approaches to address and overcome these tensions in the effort to re-integrate epistemologies of the global South within more dominant global North knowledge production systems. Such approaches have been posited to add new analytical and methodological tools to achieve praxis—the Greek word for translating theory into practice. Transdisciplinary research transcends the usual gap between academia and the broader public by acknowledging the value of knowledge obtained from diverse, nonacademic stakeholders in the community, government, and business. In addition, these approaches in child and youth studies offer us new possibilities for translating and understanding the local and global implications of implementing the 1989 United Nations Convention on the Rights of Child, and the vast differences in the experiences of childhood amongst and between various socioeconomic, cultural, and political contexts in recognizing their own rights in situ. Moving beyond adult-focused and Eurocentric understanding of the childhood literature (and of children’s human rights), this paper reflects our experiences working with young people affiliated with the Lalitpur Metropolitan City Child Clubs in Nepal, and observing their participatory planning processes for annual budgets. In response to increasing complexity throughout all regions of the world, we consider historical, political, and cultural experiences in Nepal through this transdisciplinary approach to child-centered research and activism. Our paper details key learning and transitions from being “academic researchers” and “observers” of a participatory, child- and youth-focused budgeting process to “collaborators” and “co-constructors of knowledge” with key stakeholders—the young people of Lalitpur, Nepal.

Nepal’s transformation from an autocratic monarchy to a democratic republic presupposes the development of democratic institutions, and the current generation of Nepali youth, particularly those in higher education, are uniquely situated in that process. As such Nepali youth constitute a distinct generation along the lines specified by Karl Mannheim and others. In the past efforts to mobilize Nepalese youth have been aimed at integrating them as useful assets in the service of Nepalese political institutions, such as political student unions, but in this paper, based on fieldwork and interview data collected in 2013 and 2016, we argue that politically active youth today should be understood as an autonomous though heterogeneous constituent force that is in counterpoint with normative political institutions.

It is an exciting time in children's rights. Children and youth have had leadership roles in efforts to combat the climate crisis, challenging traditional attitudes to children as passive victims. Children have been heard by national governments, parliaments and others in power. The UN Committee on the Rights of the Child has produced a General Comment on children's rights and the environment, with a special focus on climate change, with the involvement of thousands of children all over the world. In another groundbreaking turn for children's rights, recent climate litigation has involved a significant number of children/youth as litigants and/or has included children's rights arguments. There is much to research in the area. There is also much to be done to bring together practitioners/advocates with academics, who analyse these occurrences through the framework of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child. Questions must also be asked about the extent to which climate/ environmental justice systems are sufficiently accessible and appropriate for children and youth. An international, interdisciplinary conference in 2024 aimed to fill this gap. The Youth Climate Justice project at the School of Law at University College Cork (funded by the European Research Council) hosted a conference in the area of children's rights and climate justice. Scholars, practitioners and children/ youth were invited to present their work on children/youth and environmental rights. There were critical discussions on children's rights and interests in the climate crisis, and on what the right to a healthy environment means for children. The issue of what justice for children looks like in the climate crisis was also discussed, as were the potential consequences of developments in the area for children's rights; particularly in relation to the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child. There was also reflection on how the children's rights