Non-formal early childhood education and care (ECEC) spaces such as community playgroups, family centres, and play hubs offer rich play and learning experiences for young children, their families and community members. This is especially evident when non-formal ECEC complements informal and formal ECEC.

While there are several quality frameworks for formal ECEC provisions, at the national and European level (EU Quality Framework for ECEC, ISSA quality principles 0-3 and 3 to 10), there isn’t yet a common quality framework for non-formal initiatives.  

Coordinated by International Child Development Initiatives (ICDI), the Netherlands and Centrul Step-by-Step Centre, Romania, this Joint Learning Lab is developing and validating a quality framework for non-formal ECEC initiatives that can be used to design, implement and evaluate such initiatives and to inform learning and development of staff and volunteers.