Danielle Kennan

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. She 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. She is a qualitative researcher with a methodological expertise in youth participatory action research. 

Danielle is Programme Director of the MA Child, Youth and Community and Co-Programme Director of the structured PhD in Child and Youth Studies. She teaches on these programmes as well as the BA Child, Youth and Family: Policy and Practice and the BA Joint Honours Political 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.

Research Strengths and Interests

 1.  Advancing the implementation of children's right

Danielle's research focuses on advancing children's rights through both scholarly publications and competitively awarded Irish and European research funding. Recent work includes a European Commission funded project, collaborating with a consortium of governmental and non-governmental organisations, to examine the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on children's rights. Working in partnership with children and young people, the project developed a Child Rights Impact Assessment Tool for us in emergency decision-making. Her wider research portfolio explores the rights of children and young people who have experienced violence (2017-2019), investigating barriers to the realisation of the rights of children with disabilities in Ireland (2020) and examining the rights and experiences of young carers (2010).

2. Integrating democratic and participatory approaches in the design and delivery of children's services, research and policy

Danielle has extensive expertise in the design and implementation of child and youth participatory methodologies, spanning consultation, collaborative research, and child- and youth-led research approaches. She is co-editor of Child and Youth Participation in Research, Policy and Practice (2021) and co-founder of the Youth as Researchers programme (2014 - present). A youth participatory action research programme that supports young people in Ireland and internationally to lead research that informs policy and practice. The programme is currently delivered through UNESCO field offices worldwide.

3. Building an evidence base for children's participation

Danielle's research combines theoretical and empirical perspectives to advance understanding of meaningful, ethical and effective approaches to child and youth participation. Her work includes developing ethical guidance for child and youth participation in research (2026) and leadership of a comprehensive evaluation of children's participation practices within Ireland's national child and family agency, Tusla (2015-2019). Building on this foundation, she is particularly interested in collaborative research that strengthens the evidence base on the outcomes and impacts of child and youth participation across research, policy development and practice settings.

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