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 sociological study of childhood and youth. Her main research interests are in the area of childrens rights, examining contemporary social issues affecting children, youth and families from a rights-based perspective, with a focus on policy and service provision responses. Danielle is a qualitative researcher with a methodological expertise in youth participatory action research. Her work includes co‐editing the book Child and Youth Participation in Research, Policy and Practice, a significant contribution to international scholarship in the field. Danielle is also co‐founder of the Youth as Researchers programme, which is central to UNESCO’s global strategy for elevating youth voice.

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, especially child and youth participation rights. She is experienced in implementing a range of participatory research methodologies, ranging from consultations, to collaborative research, to child and youth led-research. Danielle has been awarded Irish 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 a consortium 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 project was a prototype Child Rights Impact Assessment Tool and training supports. Danielle co-founded the 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 informing policy 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.

Danielles teaching interests are in the area of human rights, equality, social justice and child and youth service provision.