INTESYS Newsletter April 2019 – Sharing the achievements of the INTESYS Consortium; exploring pathways forward

Sharing the achievements of the INTESYS Consortium

April 2019

INTESYS Toolkit

The recently finalised toolkit proposes a Reference Framework for Integration

in Early Childhood Systems and a journey towards integration accompanied

by guiding questions, tools, recommendations and tips for practitioners

interested in better coordinating the services for young children. It is an

inspiring and versatile resource that can be easily adapted to various contexts

across and within countries around the world. The INTESYS Toolkit is an

innovative resource which has been developed based on a literature review

and European survey carried out at the beginning of the project and tested

and refined in the pilots carried out in Belgium, Italy, Portugal and Slovenia.

You can access the full Toolkit here.

Evaluation Report The evaluation of INTESYS looked at both the processes and outcomes of all activities carried out in the

project. Qualitative and quantitative data were collected to measure the value to the index of integration at

the beginning and at the end of the project. The result: A significant increase in the value of the index of

integration in all pilots was noted. Professionals and different stakeholders have recognized an increased

collaboration and coordination among early childhood services across sectors, and an improvement of their

knowledge and practices due to the cross-sectoral professional development activities, networking and

coordination meetings facilitated in different pilots. Parents also indicated that they witnessed a more child

and family-centered approach from services.

Read more from the Evaluation Reports here.

Policy Recommendations Strengthening integration in the early childhood systems required action at practitioner level but also at

policy level. The lessons learned from pilot interventions in Belgium, Italy, Portugal, and Slovenia highly

contributed to shaping cross-country and in-country policy recommendations for strengthening integration

INTESYS Newsletter April 2019 – Sharing the achievements of the INTESYS Consortium; exploring pathways forward

in the early childhood systems. Theory and practice solidly blended into several rationales for integration

that were translated into 17 recommendations at local, national and European level.

Read Policy Recommendations here.

INTESYS Conference

The INTESYS closing conference, Strengthening integration within early childhood systems – why and

how?, was a unique opportunity to learn more about the project and project results. The occasion brought

together European and national policy makers and program implementers to discuss about the rationale

for strengthening integration in the early childhood systems and about ways in which it can be achieved.

Two panels nurtured the learning during the conference.

Representatives from the pilots took part in a Representatives

from the pilots took part in a panel on lessons learned from

INTESYS. Panelists included:

Liesbeth Lambert (VBJK)

Mateja Režek (Step by Step Center for Quality in Education –

Pedagogical Institute),

Marzia Sica (Compagnia di San Paolo)

Alexandra Marques (Aga Khan Foundation)

INTESYS Newsletter April 2019 – Sharing the achievements of the INTESYS Consortium; exploring pathways forward

The second panel

discussion on

policy

recommendations

included

policymakers at the

national and

European level. The

panelists were:

Katrien Verhegge,

Governmental

Agency Kind en

Gezin, Belgium

Emanuela Rossini, Member of the Italian Parliament, Commission for Policy of the European Union

Stanko Baluh, The Office for National Minorities of the Republic of Slovenia

Geraldine Libreau, Early Childhood Education and Care, Directorate General Education, Youth, Sport

and Culture, European Commission

Filipe Almeida, Portugal Social Innovation

The panels provided insights from the policy and practice perspective into critical changes that are needed

at local, country and European level for enabling the integrated working across sectors, services and levels

of governance. Mindset, political will and support and funding were among the key words.

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The European Commission support for the production of this publication does not constitute an endorsement of

the contents which reflects the views only of the authors, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for

any use which may be made of the information contained therein.

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INTESYS Newsletter April 2019 – Sharing the achievements of the INTESYS Consortium; exploring pathways forward