What we’ve spoken about this afternoon is at the heart of making Scotland the best place to grow up!
John Swinney, Deputy First Minister
To mark Universal Children’s Day 2017 and Children’s Parliament’s 21st birthday, 75 children aged 9-13 and 75 adults travelled from across Scotland to meet and discuss the future of Scotland and how it can be a safer, healthier and happier place for children and families to live and grow.
I talked to adults about how they can listen to children and how to make Scotland better. My favourite part of the day was being in Edinburgh because I felt like I was in Harry Potter.
Sammy, Member of Children’s Parliament Imagineer
Since 2015, Children’s Parliament has been organising an annual Sitting to bring adult decision makers together with Members of Children’s Parliament, children who have participated in our projects over the previous year. It is a huge undertaking and is only made possible through the in-kind support of multiple agencies and our fantastic volunteer Youth Ambassadors.
For previous years’ activities, see National Sitting 2015 and National Sitting 2016.
To celebrate the first 21 years of Children’s Parliament, our filmmaker compiled a short film that was shared on the day:
As in previous years, the Sitting was also a launchpad for new pieces of work:
2. What kind of Scotland?, a publication looking at children’s views and adults’ responsibilities across the domains of home, school and community, is available here:
Children’s Parliament’s National Sitting 2017 was supported by:
Funding for the National Sitting 2017 was provided by National Lottery Awards for All Scotland.