Welcome to ISSA Conference 2024!
ISSA Conference is a unique platform to listen to the world’s leading Early Childhood experts, an opportunity to learn from your peers, but also to share the knowledge and experience you have gained. ISSA unites researchers, practitioners and policymakers from around the world. Together, we explore themes through discussion and interactive sessions, and we share lessons learned and proven solutions from which you will benefit instantly. As always, there will be a rich and diverse offer of one-day pre-conference workshops and site visits for you to choose from, alongside conference sessions.
The conference marked ISSA’s 25th anniversary as a learning community devoted to Early Childhood Development, and the 30th anniversary of the Open Society Foundations’ Step by Step Program, upon whose legacy and resulting network ISSA continues to build.
Read a recap of ISSA Conference 2024
View photos from ISSA Conference 2024:
Oct 22 Album | Oct 23 Album | Oct 24 Album
Stay connected! Continue the conversation we started at the conference by joining our LinkedIn Group. Stay in the know by signing up for our newsletter.
2024 Conference Theme & Strands
The 2024 conference theme, It Takes an Early Childhood Ecosystem for All Young Children to Thrive, recognizes that we live in disruptive and increasingly challenging times where the concern for protecting and asserting the importance of safe, healthy, and happy childhoods is more pressing than ever. Recent years, especially since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic and continuing with economic downturns and devastating consequences of wars, have clearly demonstrated how rapidly changes are occurring, exposing vulnerabilities not only in societies but also in early childhood systems. Explore further the conference theme and strands.
2024 Program Overview - Slides and handouts linked below!
October 22
9:00 - 18:00 Pre-conference events: View the list of pre-conference events and social events.
19:00 - 21:30 Welcome reception, including an address by Ivaylo Ivanov, Minister of Labour and Social Affairs and by Vassil Terziev, Mayor of Sofia Municipality
October 23
Plenary: Opening ceremony, including an address by Professor Galin Tsokov, Bulgarian Minister of Education and Science
Plenary: Keynote from James Cairns, Center on the Developing Child at Harvard University - View slides from Keynote | View video of keynote
Plenary: Driving change from the global level - ECDAN and Act for Early Years | View video of plenary session
Plenary: Policy panel discussion on pathways to effective cross-sectoral coordination in Early Childhood Development (ECD) policy design and implementation | View video of plenary session
October 24
Plenary: Keynote from Mathias Urban, Early Childhood Research Center (ECRC) at Dublin University (DCU), Ireland | View slides from Keynote | View video of keynote
Plenary: Panel discussion on creating an enduring movement for democratic Early Childhood Education - The legacy of the Step by Step Program | View video of plenary session
Plenary: Panel discussion on the power of networks in catalyzing and sustaining system changes for ECD | View video of plenary session
Plenary: Closing ceremony
October 25
Conference Co-hosts and Partners
ISSA Conference 2024 is hosted by:
In partnership with:
With the support of:
The Ministry of Labour and Social Policy
The Ministry of Education and Science
The Ministry of Healthcare
The Municipality of Sofia
UNICEF
