The participation of children and young people in seminars, conferences and other events is undoubtedly an issue to be promoted, especially in the field of child welfare and child policy. However, it is not always an easy task to carry out in practice. How to make the best out of these meetings and to learn from each other? How to avoid difficulties?

We have tried to learn from the mistakes made and from the feedback from youth events where EFCW (European Forum for Child Welfare) has been closely involved. We hope that the following guidelines will be helpful for organisers of future events.

· Be clear about expectations, roles and responsibilities between the organising partners.
· Get to know your partners, their resources and their way of working.
· Draw up written contracts where appropriate.
· Provide clear written information about the target, plan and financing of the event.
· Identify contact persons in all the partner organisations.
· Include young people in the planning and organising of the event.

· Provide clear criteria for selecting the young participants and their carers:
the young people should be mature enough and capable of participating in the event; the carers should have enough knowledge of the young people attending and experience of travelling with young people.
· Give sufficient information in advance to the participants and encourage the invited groups to prepare for the event together.
· Establish clear group rules, however taking into consideration eventual socio-cultural differences between countries/regions (age limits, customs etc.)

· Secure sufficient staff resources during the event:
young people and adults able to organise shared activities for the young participants and available to spend time with them.
· Establish clear roles and responsibilities for the members of the hosting staff.
· Visit all premises to be used during the event in advance in order to check the quality, arrangements and logistics for accommodation and for the rest of the programme.