In this edition of JoSI we are pleased to present a collection of six papers that explore social inclusion issues as applied to children, young people and people with disabilities across different settings and geographic locations. In various ways this issue examines how meaningful progress in social inclusion can be achieved. Many of the suggested ways forward are discussed in the context of policies and practices reflective of risk averse tendencies that can, implicitly or explicitly, reproduce restrictive assumptions about not only the nature of ‘children’, ‘young people’ or ‘disability,’ but also about what is possible.