•   Proposals may be submitted until 15 October as part of the citizen laboratory “Building Health With and For Children and Adolescents.”

The Department of Health of Navarra, in collaboration with FMS-Navarrabiomed and the Public University of Navarra (UPNA), has opened the call for proposals for the citizen laboratory “Building Health With and For Children and Adolescents”, an initiative aimed at fostering the active participation of children and young people in shaping their own health and wellbeing.
The call for proposals will remain open until 15 October and will allow for the selection of up to four proposals, which will subsequently be developed collaboratively within the framework of the laboratory. Interested individuals and organisations may submit their initiatives through the designated application form.

This initiative is based on a fundamental principle: for health promotion policies and actions to be truly effective and responsive to people’s needs, they must incorporate the perspectives, experiences, and ideas of those who are directly affected by them. In this regard, children and adolescents are not merely recipients of programmes and interventions but also agents capable of identifying needs, proposing solutions, and actively contributing to the improvement of the environments in which they live.

Open to organisations and the public

The call is addressed to associations, educational institutions, sports clubs, cultural organisations, youth groups, and professionals from different fields, researchers, students, and members of the public interested in promoting the participation of children and adolescents in matters related to health and wellbeing.
Proposals may take the form of ideas, pilot experiences, or collaborative projects. Fully developed initiatives are not required, as one of the key characteristics of the citizen laboratory is precisely to support their collective development through the exchange of knowledge, experiences, and perspectives among individuals with diverse backgrounds and expertise.
The objective is to promote initiatives that enable children and adolescents to express themselves, participate in decision-making processes, develop their own proposals, and contribute to creating healthier, more inclusive environments that are better adapted to their needs.

Particular consideration will be given to proposals that create safe spaces for listening and dialogue, encourage active participation, strengthen protective factors against risks such as sedentary lifestyles, social isolation, or problematic screen use, and connect health with areas such as education, culture, sport, science, and community life.
Once the initiatives have been selected, a second call will be launched to recruit collaborators and establish multidisciplinary teams that will work together on developing the projects.

An initiative linked to the Navarra Health Plan Horizon 2030

This citizen laboratory is part of the Navarra Network of Citizen Experimentation and Collaboration Laboratories and is framed within the development of the Navarra Health Plan Horizon 2030, as well as the implementation of Regional Law 12/2022, which recognises and strengthens the right of children and adolescents to participate meaningfully in matters that affect their lives.
The selected projects will be developed through collaborative working sessions on 11 and 12 November at the Teaching Pavilion of the Navarra Hospital Complex.
Prior to this, participants will be able to attend the event “Researching with Citizens, Transforming Health” on 27 October, organised at Navarrabiomed. The session will focus on co-creation methodologies and participatory approaches designed to strengthen citizen engagement and collaboration among the various stakeholders involved. The results and proposals generated through the laboratory will be presented publicly during the month of December.