Communication / Outreach

Human rights can feel technical and abstract, and as such be difficult for both policy makers and the wider public to engage with. The YHRCN has used a variety of strategies to engage with new audiences. Three such strategies are discussed below: the PANEL principles; a collaboration with an advertising agency; and cultural events.

Community Voices

Running between 2018-2021, the aim of Community Voices was two-fold. First, to reach communities in the city not reached through conventional consultation processes; and, second, to support such groups to bring their priorities and agendas for change to the Council and other stakeholders in the city, on their own terms. 

Working with Young People

The YHRCN has supported work with young people in a variety of ways. These include Opinionate workshops with secondary school pupils; working with the the City of York Children’s Safeguarding Partnership (CYSCP) to develop a Realising Children’s Rights Participation Toolkit; and arts-based projects on the right to protest.

Reverse the Ban

York Human Rights City Network was a member of the Reverse the Ban coalition of 27 local organisations that was formed in the wake of the Council Executive vote in November 2021 to impose a permanent ban on disabled  people using their Blue Badge to enter large parts of the city centre.