Trage Wegen (translation for ‘slow paths’) is a non-profit organisation based in Ghent. Their mission is to support the existence, maintenance and development of slow paths in Flanders. Such urban paths, trails, alleyways and back roads, supporting and prescribing slow types of mobility are not only enjoyable places to be but they also have a special appeal for the city’s youngest citizens. They are unintended or inaccessible for car users and therefore constitute an essential public network for a qualitative, autonomous and safe being of children. In addition, they extend the amount of conventional child friendly spaces in the city that are most often restricted to segregated play zones, such as playgrounds. Trage Wegen initiated a project that focused on children’s participation in the development of a network of slow paths in the city of Ghent and, therefore, approached two other organisations that had previous experience and knowledge in working with children or children’s participation: zZmogh and Office for Public Play. Together the three partners defined a concept, structure and methodological approach for the project, called Gangmakers & Koplopers — translated as Pace-setters and Front-runners — set-up in various neighbourhoods in Ghent. It enabled children, aged 6 to 12, to explore possible meanings of these urban pathways in relation to their daily experience, access and appropriation of their city neighbourhood. In addition to inquire children’s meanings, values and visions of their urban slow paths; the project also aimed to learn from children’s experiences in this context in order to develop participatory methods which are more appropriate for working with children. The project consisted out of a series of workshops that would 1) generate children’s experiences and voices on exploring/experiencing/rethinking slow paths; 2) enable dialogue with policy makers (through a wish list or dream box); and 3) communicate the outcomes to the wider audience (through a public child parade and online platform). This one-year pilot project was funded as ‘experimental project’ by the Flemish Government. All children volunteered in their free time. External observers were enrolled to ‘register’ the children’s experiences. This generated a rich collection of plural data layers and thick descriptions. This qualitative data was registered through different media: audio, photo, video, written notes and artefacts made by the children. The data analyse helped to reconfigure the aim, questions and methodology of the first pilot year into a fine-tuned framework for the three forthcoming years. At the end of the project, we discerned two major shifts from the predefined structure of the project: Both the ‘wish list for the municipality’ and the ‘parade for the big public’ had evolved from a goal-oriented outcome to process-oriented interaction. During the process, it became clear that delivering a wish list for the municipality would limit and devalue the complexity and diversity of the children’s input. In addition, the idea of delivering a wish list that would actually become a ‘to do’ list for the municipality would put all hope and responsibility to an external actor and therefore the children would lose control for making actual change. Furthermore, we realized that in case we would involve the municipality for future collaboration, they would need to develop understanding about the children’s experiences. Therefore the idea of the wish list was transformed into an actual and real dialogue that engaged both parties. After being informed about their rights, the children re-explored slow paths and public space in order to develop their critical awareness. Finally a playful set-up was used to make the children feel comfortable expressing and discussing their questions, doubts, needs, wishes, dreams, etc. with the two local policy makers. The initial plans for the parade went through a similar change. Originally this procession-style walk, celebrating slow paths, would show artefacts produced during various workshops to the public. In stead, an additional participatory design process was initiated to develop the parade together with a fixed group of children on a regular base. With the support of artist and choreographer Liesbeth Swings, the children co-designed a score. During the actions-tour, the audience was invited to interact with the slow paths by performing the score. By doing so the audience (adults and children) did not only create the final shape of the parade but also experienced a multitude of meanings, experiences and ideas about how the children themselves experience slow paths in their urban daily life. Both new developments show how our method dissociated from predefined outcomes into a process based on interaction, exchange and continuation. The role of the children changed from presenting their wishes and needs to a pro-active role in which they would engage externals in co-experiencing, sharing and negotiating their experiences. This position actively involved the children in the discourse of slow paths and public space. 1 Slow paths is the collective name for formal and informal planned paths that are used for slow types of mobility by pedestrians and bikers, such as walking, leisure, and functional movements.