A consortium of Italian foundations, under the auspices of the Transatlantic Forum on Inclusive Early Years, united during the 3rd National Conference "Integrated systems and multilingualism" on January 27th 2016. Program Director, Mihaela Ionescu, represented ISSA. Marking the conclusion of a three year effort to deepen their knowledge on the main challenges facing the Italian early childhood education and care systems, and examining the action needed to provide equal opportunities to each child, especially if they belong to the most vulnerable groups, the conference took stock of the lessons learned and developed recommendations that should accompany the changes in Italian policy. The next stage of action was also decided: experimentation which will lead to more equitable services for young children across the country and bridging the gap between various regions in Italy. The theme of the conference identified two of the most challenging issues facing early childhood systems when addressing the most vulnerable groups: How can we contribute to a more integrated approach on the service and system level? How we should approach multilingualism in ECEC services so that equal opportunities to access and benefit from the services are given to children with migrant background and their families.
