BCN 0-17 Observatory

The BCN 0-17 Observatory, Lives and Rights of Children and Teenagers in the City is a municipal programme assigned to us by Barcelona City Council and that provides data and analysis on the lives and rights of children and teenagers in the city and the policies that affect them.

This programme is based around three main considerations:

The need to analyse how children and teenagers live with an integrative focus to guarantee the principle of the higher interest of the child in local public decisions and to advance their rights (UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, 1989).
Childhood as a strategic phase in the life cycle which requires commitment and investment in order to break with the cycle of inequalities and favour equal opportunities (EU Commission Recommendation on Investing in Children, 2013).
The need for better evidence-based orientation and evaluation of public policies that affect children and teenagers and for a better understanding of the diverse and unequal lives of all children and teenagers (Observations of the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child in Spain, 2018).

The BCN 0-17 Observatory is structured across two broad lines of work:

KEY DATA ON CHILDREN AND TEENAGERS: With the aim of improving understanding about the living conditions of children and teenagers, we publish an annual report titled Key Data on Children and Teenagers in Barcelona (report in Catalan). It is based on analysis of data from the Comprehensive System of Indicators on Children and Teenagers in Barcelona (SIIIAB) which we monitor from the Institute. It currently contains 150 indicators originating from 28 sources, including surveys and administrative records provided by 19 municipal services and public institutions.
LABORATORIES: Laboratories are spaces for focalised knowledge. They can take on different methodological formats; for example, applied research, evaluations, advice or debating sessions and work around a specific issue, etc. The aim is to respond to relevant questions about local public policies and on the progressive exercising of their rights. The majority of laboratories can be traced as related projects.

Furthermore, over the course of the year, the BCN 0-17 Observatory receives requests for data and advice from different public departments, services, or institutions, to which we provide a response.