The 11th Children’s Rights European Academic Network (CREAN) Symposium brings together doctoral candidates and supervisors from different universities and disciplines. Its aim is to actively promote exchange and cooperation. The Symposium offers an opportunity to hear about current, cutting edge research by PhD’s and to work together on a research agenda for children’s rights.

The overall theme of the Symposium is: Children’s Rights under pressure in a changing world: Need for a new research agenda? In 2023, UNICEF spoke of a ‘poly-crisis’, as multiple, interdependent, crises are impacting on children’s rights which cause strain on basic necessities such as food, hamper the development of sustainable energy, and threaten democratic rights. In this context the backlash against children’s rights is growing. The armed conflicts around the world directly affect families and children every day. Meanwhile, international solidarity is dwindling and human rights are pushed back on.

This has led to the central question for this year’s Symposium: what kind of children’s rights research, and what kind of children’s rights researcher, does the current time ask for? And is there a need to renew the children’s rights research agenda?

Abstracts for presentations by PhD students are welcomed.

Abstracts should be submitted by sending them to: events@law.leidenuniv.nl by Monday 2 June 2025.