Work Plan
The research project is organized in eight distinct work packages. These are:
WP1 – the Management of the entire project;
WP2 – Conceptual grid: Constitutional Democracy and the Rights of the Child;
Wp3 – Study of formal rules, institutions and policies regarding child protection;
WP4 – The Democratic Logic: According to Entrustment and Trusted?;
WP5 – Professional practice according to rights;
WP6 – Crises in Child Protection Services;
WP7 – Policy recommendations;
WP8 – Dissemination of research findings.
WP 1: Management and scientific co-ordination
Start month: 1
End month: 48
WP 2: Conceptual grid: Constitutional Democracy and the Rights of the Child
Start month: 2
End month: 8
This working package is dedicated to developing the conceptual grid for the project, which will serve as substantial input, not only on how to understand the dependent variable, the child´s cosmopolitan citizenship, but also, how to understand the independent variables that will be used in the empirical studies of subsequent WPs. The ambition is to first construct the rationality of protecting the child according to the child´s rights, and map out the different concepts necessary to understand the full depth of what it means to successfully protect children.
WP3: Study of formal rules, institutions and policies regarding child protection
Start month: 9
End month: 17
In WP3 the project will apply the conceptual framework developed in WP2 as an analytical tool. The purpose is to analyze how the child´s cosmopolitan citizenship is reflected in formal rules, institutions and policies in Romania and In Norway. Documents will be read and analyzed, and politicians and policymakers will be interviewed. The focus will be to trace how operative the core rights are: Nondiscrimination, best interests, participation and family-life.
WP4: The Democratic Logic: According to Entrustment and Trusted?
Start month: 9
End month: 26
Immersion in a particular social environment does impact the final judgement of social workers, meaning that the wider social attitudes towards issues of child protection may to some extent guide the way in which professional practitioners approach these issues. Along these lines, in our project, we claim it is extremely relevant to examine in depth the attitudes and beliefs of the general population since, as illustrated by the strongly mediatized Naustdal case, public opinion impacts the development of social cases.
WP 5: Professional practice according to rights?
Start month: 22
End month: 36
WP 6: Crises in Child Protection Services
Start month: 30
End month: 38
We will seek to address these topic fields in connection: How does public discourse develop in line with the legal-political discourse, how does public trust in child protection correspond to the legal-political developments.
WP 7: Policy recommendations
Start month: 8
End month: 46
WP7 builds on the data and knowledge gathered in WPs 3-6 and puts the conclusions of the scientific research and data analysis in a more accessible language that can be easily grasped by the media, the public, as well as by the stakeholders.
WP8: Dissemination of research findings
Start month: 1
End month: 48
2019
In June 2019 (24th and 25th), the research teams from the three partner institutions (Babes-Bolyai University, Oslo Metropolitan University gathered in Cluj-Napoca for the kick off meeting, during which the partners discussed the overall management approach, timeline of activities and milestones and quality standards of implementation. Once all details related to the optimal implementation have been agreed, the project team began the work on the activities, in accordance with the established objectives and calendar. The team started the work on the systematic literature review, covering a wide range of topics related to the project objectives.
A preliminary identification of relevant stakeholders from Romania has been used for the creation of an initial database with institutions and organizations with activities in the realm of child protection. The public inauguration of the project took place on October 28th, 2019, during an event organized at the headquarters of the project promoter organization, the Faculty of Political, Administrative and Communication Sciences, in Cluj-Napoca. A project website has been set up (www.consent-project.org), where updates about the progress of implementation are constantly uploaded. In January 2020 (8th-9th), members of the Babes Bolyai team participated at the workshop Co-Creating Cluj Learning Hub Program to Improve Well-Being of Young People, organized by the Botnar Foundation. Within this event, the panel “Child Rights Approach and Youth Participation” included thematic presentations by the CONSENT members.
The event was an opportunity to connect with practitioners and researchers who work on child rights and child protection. The research team presented the preliminary results of the research at international academic events (2019: TISSA Conference in Munster, European Sociological Association Conference in Manchester; 2020: International Workshop “Citizenship: Borders and Boundaries” in Cluj-Napoca).
2020
The second year of the CONSENT project was primarily focused on preliminary research and on data collection. The activities undertaken pursued the fulfillment of objectives, deliverables, and milestones associated with five work packages.
In relation to WP1 (Management and scientific co-ordination), the team carried tasks regarding team coordination meetings and reporting. Given the circumstances generated by the pandemic, the management team successfully transferred activities online and safeguarded the functioning of all project activities under the different work packages.
Within WP3 (Study of formal rules, institutions, and policies regarding child protection), the team worked on analyzing relevant legislation and policies and developed a research design to ground the empirical component of research based on semi-structured interviews. The interviews have been carried with relevant experts, all of which have valuable work experience for the project, as policy makers, public administration leaders or leaders of local child protection services.
Under WP4 (The Democratic Logic: According to Entrustment and Trusted?), the efforts have focused on developing the design and the necessary research tools for the main project survey that assesses the public perceptions, in Romania and Norway, on various aspects of the child protection systems. In addition, responding to the new challenges brought up by the health crisis, the team designed and carry a survey that assessed Romanian children’ s well-being during the pandemic.
Within WP7 (Policy recommendations), stage 2 was mainly concerned with constructing a database of relevant stakeholders and delivering a first policy recommendation document.
In relation to WP8 (Dissemination), the results have been disseminated through scientific publications, conferences, press, and through the dedicated project website. All involved partners fulfilled their duties in accordance with their associated tasks within the project.