Multidimensional Social Exclusion and Immigrants Health in Europe

Children's participation has increasingly been recognized as a fundamental right and an essential component of ethical and inclusive research. However, research conducted in rural Indigenous contexts has largely remained adult-led, limiting children's opportunities to contribute to knowledge production. This thesis explored how child-led participatory research can promote meaningful participation while generating knowledge about children's understandings of Vivir Bien in a rural Aymara community in Bolivia. The thesis comprises four studies, including a scoping review and three participatory studies using child-led participatory research with children aged 6–12 years. Data were generated through participatory workshops, drawings, photovoice, interviews, observations, and children's own research projects, and analyzed using qualitative thematic analysis. The findings revealed limited evidence of authentic child participation in community-based participatory research in rural Latin America. They also showed that child-led participatory research strengthened children's agency, research skills, and decision-making while highlighting methodological and ethical challenges. Children understood Vivir Bien as a multidimensional concept grounded in harmonious relationships with nature, family, community, learning, and opportunities to develop their capabilities, while identifying environmental degradation and limited participation as key threats to well-being. Overall, the findings demonstrate that child-led participatory research is a feasible and valuable approach in rural Indigenous contexts, generating contextually grounded knowledge while strengthening children's agency and supporting more inclusive research, policy, and practice.