Roger Hart’s ‘Ladder of children and young people’s participation’ is the most well-known model. It describes eight levels of decision-making, agency control and power that can be given to children and young people by older people.

With each ‘step’ up the ladder, there are increased levels of agency, control or power for the children and young people.1

This image was adapted from Trainers Library.

The 'Pathways to Participation' model was developed by Harry Shier (2001), building on the previous Ladder model by Hart.2

Harry Shier’s pathway model describes five levels of youth participation. At each level, there are three ‘stages of commitment’. These show how dedicated the worker is to young people’s participation and empowerment.

The Three Stages of Commitment2

The three stages of commitment in the model represent degrees of dedication to the participation and empowerment of children and young people. 

Openings’ occur when older people and organisations become aware and responsive to empowering children and young people. 

Opportunities’ occur when older people and organisations have the funding, time, professional development, knowledge, skills, or other capacities required to empower children and young people in authentic and meaningful ways. 

Obligations’ occur when older people agree to and commit to genuine youth participation by codifying child and young people’s empowerment into organisational policy or practice. They hold themselves accountable and establish expectations for older people, building requirements for children and young people’s empowerment into their systems. 

This image was adapted from Organizing Engagement.

The IAP2 Spectrum from ©International Association for Public Participation www.iap2.org, shows that different levels of participation are needed depending on the goals, time frames, resources and levels of concern in the decision to be made.

Most importantly, the Spectrum sets out the promise being made at each participation level. It is widely used and quoted in community engagement manuals.4

Download the full resource here.

View an accessible version of the resource here

© Federation of International Association for Public Participation 2024. All rights reserved.  This work was created with contributions from Lewis Michaelson, Martha Rozelle, and Doug Sarno. www.iap2.org.

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  1. Hart, R A. (1992). Children's Participation: From tokenism to citizenship. UNICEF International Child Development Centre.
  2. Organising Engagement. (2023). Pathways to Participation. https://organizingengagement.org/models/pathways-to-participation/
  3. Koorie Youth Council. (n.d). Wayipunga (supporting young people). https://www.koorieyouthcouncil.org.au/wayipunga/
  4. IAP2. (n.d). IAP2 Public Participation Spectrum. https://iap2.org.au/resources/spectrum/