ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Hum. Dyn.
Sec. Dynamics of Migration and (Im)Mobility
This article is part of the Research TopicExploring Participatory and Creative Methodologies in Migration ResearchView all articles
Discussing the use of participatory methods with young people on the move
Provisionally accepted
- Université Paris 8, Saint-Denis, France
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At the end of 2023, 117.3 million people were forcibly displaced globally. If there is no age-disaggregated data available in relation to young migrants (aged 15 to 25) - evidence of the invisibilization of this group both in research and policy - many are young people. Timely new research focusing on the multifaceted experiences of young people growing up in a situation of forced migration is of utmost need. When studying a population in a vulnerable condition and with limited rights, several questions however must be raised, in particular questions pertaining methods and ethics. In the past few decades, participatory approaches have been widely used in research with populations in conditions of vulnerability, which includes young people and migrants. But what are the specific challenges and practices of participatory research, both online and offline? What entails doing research with young people on the move? What are the ethical dilemmas at play ? This paper, based on an ongoing comparative research project with young people on the move, aims to clarify the obstacles, envisage good practices, and understand the limits of participatory methods. It will consider both traditional qualitative participatory approaches and more innovative digital methods, contributing to the theoretical and methodological debates around participatory research with young migrants growing up across borders.
Keywords: Asylum, Forced migration, Migration, Participatory methods, research ethics, Youth
Received: 10 Nov 2025; Accepted: 11 Dec 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Santana De Andrade, Isabel Morrell and Freedman. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Glenda Santana De Andrade
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