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 Keynote Speakers
We were honored to welcome our keynote speakers who delved further into the 2024 conference theme:
- James Cairns, M.A., Senior Director for Strategic Engagements and Organizational Learning at the Center on the Developing Child at Harvard University
- Mathias Urban, Phd, Desmond Chair of Early Childhood Education and Director of the Early Childhood Research Centre (ECRC) at Dublin City University, Ireland (DCU)
Read their bios and abstracts, and preview videos of their keynotes.
2024 Program Overview - Slides and handouts coming soon!
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
8:00 - 18:00 Registration and Information Desk open
9:00 - 9:30 Opening ceremony, including an address by Professor Galin Tsokov, Bulgarian Minister of Education and Science
9:30 - 10:15 Plenary session: Keynote from James Cairns, Center on the Developing Child at Harvard University - View slides from Keynote | View video of keynote
10:30 - 12:00 Concurrent session 1
12:00 - 12:30 Coffee break
12:30 - 13:30 Concurrent session 2
13:30 - 14:15 Lunch break
14:15 - 14:45 Networking session
14:45 - 16:15 Concurrent session 3
16:15 - 16:45 Coffee break
16:30 - 17:00 Driving change from the global level - ECDAN and Act for Early Years | View video of plenary session
17:00 - 18:00 Plenary session: Policy panel discussion on pathways to effective cross-sectoral coordination in Early Childhood Development (ECD) policy design and implementation | View video of plenary session
19:00 Conference dinner
October 24
8:00 - 18:00 Registration and Information Desk open
9:00 - 10:30 Concurrent sessions 4
10:45 - 11:30 Plenary session: Keynote from Mathias Urban, Early Childhood Research Center (ECRC) at Dublin University (DCU), Ireland | View video of keynote
11:30 - 12:00 Coffee break
12:00 - 13:30 Concurrent sessions 5
13:30 - 14:15 Lunch break
14:15 - 15:15 Plenary session: 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
15:30 - 16:30 Plenary session: Panel discussion on the power of networks in catalyzing and sustaining system changes for ECD | View video of plenary session
16:30 - 16:45 Coffee break
16:45 - 17:45 Concurrent sessions 6
18:00-18:30 Closing ceremony
19:00 Dinners at various restaurants (optional by registration)
October 25
9:00 - 18:30 Site visits (optional, registration required) - View post-conference site visit options.
9:00 - 18:30 Sightseeing and more (optional, registration required) - View site-seeing options.
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
