Violence and climate change have forced the relocation of many millions of children and youth worldwide. UNICEF reports that violence alone displaced more than 47 million children by the end of 2023. According to Colette Daiute, these children are not simply removed from one context and dropped into an entirely different one — they are not passive pieces moved about in a geopolitical game outside their understanding and control. Viewed instead as active agents, children create meaning, engage socially, wield resources, define and redefine experience according to their needs.
Colette’s work moves decidedly away from trauma-based approaches in order to explore how children engage with and make sense of disruptive circumstances. As a plenary speaker at our 2025 conference in Belgrade, she will discuss the theory underpinning her scholarship and the unique methodologies she has developed to pursue it.
