Country: Netherlands

The International Step by Step Association (ISSA) is organizing a Conference entitled “Nurturing Environments for the wellbeing of young children and their families”, June 18-19, 2019 in Leiden, Holland. The theme draws attention to the systemic nature and the shared responsibility for the environments in which young children live, learn, play and develop. Starting from the home environment and moving through the early childhood services and other spaces in neighborhoods, communities and cities, each experience along the way has the potential to shape the life of a young child. The conference aims at uniting the knowledge and practice of researchers, practitioners, policy makers, parents, and NGOs from around the world to explore themes through insightful discussions and interactive sessions.

On June 17, there are relevant pre-conference events and workshops where interactive sessions will be combined with presentations. The themes of the workshops include:

• Cities for the youngest residents, practical solutions for nurturing environments
• Nurturing care for ECD in the 21st century
• Responsive care-giving through gender equity and father and male caregiver involvement
• EC services for young refugee children
• Video-feedback Intervention to promote Positive Parenting and Sensitive Discipline (VIPP-SD)
• No more special needs inside a regular curriculum, but a special curriculum to welcome diversities
• From Hard-to-Reach Families to Easy-to-Reach Services

For more information about the conference and workshops: http://conference.issa.nl/