Coinciding with the start of the school year, the registration process is now open for the Barcelona Children and Teenagers Council, aimed at youngsters between the ages of 8 and 17. The council starts life with the goal of ensuring this collective are heard and that they can actively participate in the decisions and public policies that affect them.

The main space for city children and teenagers to participate

The new council becomes part of an ecosystem of young people’s participation initiatives promoted by the city, such as the Children’s Agenda, the Grup Altaveu, the Children’s Proclamation and “Volem decidir”. The intention is for it to provide a regular space for youngsters to participate in Barcelona and a reference point for gathering opinions, proposals and input from children and teenagers.

This innovative model combines open participation with representative participation and is to be applied in different spaces at neighbourhood, district and city levels. The structure is conceived to incorporate the diversity of young people’s experiences and realities in Barcelona to foster inclusive, accessible and representative participation.

In addition to being a space for expression, the idea behind the council is for this collective’s input to help guide municipal public policies and have a real influence on the matters that affect them

From the neighbourhood to the city

The council is organised into three participation spaces. District agoras are open to all children and teenagers that sign up for them. They choose neighbourhood representatives, who will later take part in district commissions to work on the proposals gathered.

Finally, a spokesperson from each neighbourhood takes part in the city’s full council session to share their final proposals with municipal representatives.

Register on decidim.barcelona. to find full information on the new body.

New step to make the right to participation effective

The creation of this council is the result of a working process carried out between 2025 and 2026 by a driver group of children, teenagers, experts and municipal representatives, The process helped define, in a participatory way, the model, function and participation spaces of the new council.

This new space helps make the right of young people to participate in matters that affect them effective, as set out in the Convention on the Rights of the Child, legislation relating to children and teenagers and the Barcelona Regulation on Citizen Participation. It is also part of the recently approved plan to promote diverse and open public participation and to promote democratic innovation 2026-2028.

Participating to improve the city

To introduce the new council, the Mayor of Barcelona and the members of the promoting group sent a letter to the 27,555 children and teenagers officially residing in the city and born between 2013 and 2016. The initiative invites them to join the council with a clear message: taking part to improve the city.

If you’re aged from 8 to 17, check the full information and register at decidim.barcelona.