Danielle Kennan is a Lecturer in Applied Social Science in the School of Political Science and Sociology and a Senior Researcher with the UNESCO Child and Family Research Centre in the Institute for Lifecourse and Society at University of Galway.Danielle has an interdisciplinary expertise in human rights law and the the study of childhood and youth from a sociological perspective. Her main research interests are in the area of childrens rights,especially child and youth participation rights and she is experienced in implementing a range of participatory research methodologies. Danielle is co-founder of the Youth as Researchers programme, which is now central to UNESCOs global strategy to access youth voice on key issues affecting their wellbeing.Danielle has secured funding, published widely and delivered conference papers in the child and youth participationfield,most recently co-editing a 2022 Routledge Book Child and Youth Participation in Research, Policy and Practic e.Danielle is Programme Director of the MA Child, Youth and Community and Co-Programme Director of the structured PhD in Child and Youth Studies. Danielle teaches on these programmes as well as theBA Child, Youth and Family: Policy and Practice and the BA Joint HonoursPolitical Science and Sociology.Danielle holds a PhD in Sociology (University of Galway) and an LL.M in Human Rights and Criminal Justice (Queens University, Belfast). She previously worked with the Irish Human Rights Commission as a Research and Policy Fellow and at the United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva.

Danielles research interests are in the area of childrens rights and their implementation,especially child and youth participation rights. She is experienced in implementing a range of participatory research methodologies , rangingfrom consultations, to collaborative research, to child and youth led-research.Danielle has been awardedIrish and European funding contributing to the advancement of childrens rights and engaged research activities.In 2022, Danielle was funded by the European Commission to partner on a project with aconsortium of government and non-governmental organisations,led by the Childrens Rights Alliance. The aim of the project is to work collaboratively with children and young people to advise government on how a child rights-based approach can be embedded in decision-making in times of emergency. The outcome of the research will be a prototype Child Rights Impact Assessment Tooland training supports.In 2017, she was funded by the European Commission to partner on a European wide project, led the Childrens Rights Centre in Queens University Belfast, to co-produce with children positive service responses for child victims of violence. The outcome of this research informed anational and international training programme for professionals working with children and young people.Danielle co-developedthe Youth as Researcher programme, supporting youth, from Ireland and internationally, to lead social research projects on issues of concern to them for the purpose of informingpolicy and practice dialogue. This programme is now delivered internationally via UNESCO field offices and was central to UNESCOs global response to understand the impact of Covid-19 on youth (18-35).

Danielles teaching interests are in the area of human rights and social justice, examining contemporary social issues affecting children, youth and families from a rights based perspective, with a focus on policy and service provisionresponses.