ISSA invites its members and partners to an exciting professional development event, a new opportunity to exchange views and learn together on a topic of common interest: building supportive, meaningful and trustful relationships between families, communities and services for families and young children, with the ultimate goal to ensure a healthy environment that nurtures child development and well-being from birth to 8 years of age. The event is co-hosted with ISSA’s members in Slovenia: Step by Step Center for Quality in Education and Association Mala ulica - Center for children and families in Ljubljana.
The meeting will provide a platform for sharing and exchanging views and understandings across countries around issues that concern families’ meaningful participation and how to better support it. During the meeting, participants will discuss among others topics, about the changing image and role of the parents and families, new or different approaches to attract and involve families in closer and mutual partnerships with programs and services, the key ingredients for successful reaching out programs to different types of families, and will share their knowledge and expertise through ‘market place’ and topic-driven table discussions.
Two panel discussions with Slovenian and ISSA members will be organized on the following two topics:
- Are we succeeding to meaningfully involve families in the life of services?
- Parents as influencers – to what extent is there space for parents to voice their needs, demands and collectively influence policies and practice?
Participants will also explore future collaboration by mobilizing ISSA’s Peer Learning Activities and the Joint Learning Labs, as well as further exchanges among those who attend, and plans for reaching out to other ISSA members and partners with an invitation to join in such collaborative projects.