Friendly Environment-Monitoring Indicators Development for the Children and Adolescents

Based on the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), children under 18 years of age are not properties of their parents or government. Children have the responsibilities for future productivity for their nations. Speed of development of children’s basic ability and quality of social participation depend not only on innate heredity, but also on the affordance of environment they live and the learning opportunities provided by the environment. According to the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC), child-friendly environment should include three aspects: provision, protection, and participation promotion. This study will follow the guidelines for developing international environmental indices to develop child- and adolescent-friendly environmental monitoring indicators specifically for the Taiwanese context. Research methods will mainly include systematic literature review and expert survey (expert validity), Delphi or focused group methods. Literature and related information will be searched from social science and medical databases, and governmental official websites. Qualitative analysis will be performed on the data obtained by Delphi or focused group methods. The indicators developed in this study will be linked to the international environmental indices and will formulate operational definitions. The development of indicators will consider a comprehensive developmental perspective (including child and adolescent life, health, education, family and welfare), age stratum (fetus to adolescence), different population (typical development, minority, and individuals with disabilities), and expert consensus. The indicators will serve as the basis of protection and participation promotion. The indicators will also provide a reference for local authorities to conduct survey for life conditions of children and adolescents, as conducting the survey every 4 years is required by the Protection of Children and Youths Welfare and Rights Act, Article 13.

Project ID:PF10507-0586
External Project ID:MOST105-3011-F182-001