About

The Guardianship Wheel is a systemic and interactive resource centre for guardianship training. Users can click on each of the wheels and items to access basic information and additional material to deepen the information and learning on this specific theme.

The Guardianship Wheel is associated with the EU training and learning platform for guardians of unaccompanied children. It is primarily intended as a tool for orientation in a multi-level training programme, as it illustrates the different thematic areas addressed by the programme and how they relate to each other. Each wheel represents a training session or a combination of two closely connected sessions. Each item on the wheels provides information and references to orient the user on where to access further material within the resource centre and on the EU training and learning platform.

As a systemic resource, the Guardianship Wheel illustrates how all the specific elements and levels are related to each other: It provides access to information concerning specific items on the wheels and conveys at the same time the understanding of the complex relations among all items and all levels. The systemic reasoning around guardianship services and training finds here its technical representation.

The Guardianship Wheel represents the child-centred and rights-based approach of the EU training programme for guardians of unaccompanied children. The child and the guardian appear as the central figures of the training programme and, around this centre, nine concentric circles form the “wheels”.

The training programme begins with a focus on the child as a person with their individual needs and unique life story. The training proceeds to introduce the notion of a child as a rights holder and explores the human rights of the child afforded by the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child. Gradually, the different levels of the Guardianship Wheel introduce the specific stories, needs and perspectives of unaccompanied children, the role and tasks of a guardian, and the various procedures that an unaccompanied child may have to undergo in the country of arrival. Eventually, the training addresses questions of accountability of guardians and support for their important functions. The four dimensions of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child provide the overall framework for the eight layers, as they can guide the guardian’s analysis and action in relation to each of the themes indicated on the wheel.