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Shaking the Movers

We Use a Rights-Respecting Approach to Act On Children’s and Young People’s Concerns

Shaking the Movers (STM) is a uniquely designed annual, youth-led workshop series that takes place in different regions in Canada, in English and French and from coast to coast to coast. The workshops provide children and youth with an opportunity to exercise their right to engage in important civil and political processes with the assurance that their voices will be listened to and heard by adult decision-makers.

The Landon Pearson Centre works with community partners to organize the workshops for children and young people to consider aspects of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child in the context of their lived experiences. Since 2007, young people have set their own agendas for the STM workshops, while adults provide infrastructure support. In the past, STM has had the support of the Lawson Foundation,  the Public Health Agency of Canada and, for the 2023-24 series, from Hilary Pearson.

If you are interested in a Shaking the Movers workshop tailored to your organization, please contact the Director for more information.

Shaking the Movers Workshop Organization

Cover of the " Shaking the Movers: A model for collaborative consultation" report.

Approximately 40 diverse children and youth, between the ages of 8 and 18, attend each of the STM workshops. Lead organizers for workshops are from local host universities or community organizations. The leads set up the infrastructure for the workshops, each of which is facilitated by young people between the ages of 18-25. Facilitators receive specialized training in children’s rights and rights-based approaches. For more information on the Shaking the Movers model, please see: Shaking the Movers: A model for collaborative consultation, and What makes Shaking the Movers unique.

Each workshop has a theme determined by young people and involves a university student or team noting the outcomes, priorities and ideas presented by the STM children and youth in a concluding report. The Landon Pearson Centre distributes these reports widely to our CRAN network members who work in academic, policy, government, advocacy, legal, medical and practitioner sectors. Also, CRAN’s responses to STM workshops are available in the CRAN library archive.

Shaking the Movers Early Childhood Workshops

The Landon Pearson Centre piloted three STM Early Childhood Workshops for three- to seven-year-old children in Pond Inlet, Edmonton and Toronto in 2019, with the support of the Muttart Family Foundation. The workshops were designed by Early Childhood Education experts in the Child Rights Academic Network (CRAN) and are another unique feature of our Centre: we consult with very young children using a tailored approach, value their lived experiences, and bring their views and perspectives to inform decision-making on their behalf.

Shaking the Movers Annual Reports

2024-25 STM Series: “Building Our Communities of Care.”

STM workshops were held in Toronto, at Toronto Metropolitan University, and in Waterloo, with the Children and Youth Planning Table of Waterloo Region. They were also held in Ottawa, Saskatoon and London. In the Atlantic provinces, we worked with The Youth Project in Nova Scotia and Chroma in New Brunswick, as well as Wisdom2Action: Shaking the Movers Atlantic: 2SLGBTQIA+ Youth Support and Community.

2023-24 STM Series: “Reconciliation and Places Where We Belong”

2022-23 Shaking the Movers Series: “A World Fit For Us”

2021 STM Series: “Children’s Rights and the COVID-19 Pandemic”  

Related resources from 2021: STM Thematic Analysis by Undergrad Students King’s @Western. With thanks to King’s student Kira Prince and Prof. Daniella Bendo. Click to read King’s,Western Report. STM Thematic Analysis by Dr. Judy Finlay.

2020 Shaking the Movers Series: “Children’s Civil and Political Rights”  

2019 Shaking the Movers Series: “Children’s Rights in Schools”

2018 Shaking the Movers Series: “Children’s Rights and Discrimination”

2017 Shaking the Movers  Series: “Children on the Move”

2016 STM Series: “Climate Change” 

STM Reports 2007-2015

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