Overall goal: to combat segregation of Romani young children and families, and enhance social cohesion through community based inclusive Early childhood Education & Care (ECEC) services. The project also aims to improve the transition experience of Romani children to schools.
Project homepage: www.toy4inclusion.eu
- To combat segregation, increase enrolment and promote inclusion through family involvement and intergenerational learning (IGL) in ECEC settings involving Romani and nonRomani families.
- To build the capacity of community stakeholders working with Romani and nonRomani children to provide communitybased ECEC services, strengthen social cohesion and combat segregation.
- To facilitate learning and exchange in practice and policy across countries on innovative approaches towards ECEC, social inclusion and desegregation of Roma.
- Training on community based ECEC initiatives, to promote inclusion in formal and nonformal ECEC settings;
- Pilot actions (toy library and IGL activities);
- ‘What Works Guide’ with recommendations for practitioners and local authorities to implement community based ECEC for Romani and nonRomani children;
- Knowledge sharing and dissemination among local, national and international stakeholders and policy makers.
Deriving from these goals, the proposed Action addresses needs of the following target groups:
TG 1 – young Romani children and their families (with special focus on children 08 years and the elderly population 40+ years) in the participating communities in Belgium, Croatia, Hungary, Latvia, Slovakia and Slovenia;
TG 2 – Other children and families (with special focus on children 08 years and the elderly population 60+ years) in the participating communities in Belgium, Croatia, Hungary, Latvia, Slovakia and Slovenia;
TG3 –ECEC institutions, practitioners, Romani mediators, teaching assistants, toy library assistants in the participating communities in Belgium, Croatia, Hungary, Latvia, Slovakia and Slovenia;
TG4 – Local policy makers and Romani community representatives in the participating communities in Belgium, Croatia, Hungary, Latvia, Slovakia and Slovenia;
TG5 – National and international level policy makers in the participating countries and EU.
TOY for Inclusion is coordinated by International Child Development Initiatives – ICDI (NL).
Other partners are the International Step-by-Step Association – ISSA (NL) and seven members of REYN: Educational Research Institute – ERI (Slovenia), Open Academy Step by Step – OASS (Croatia), Centre for Education Initiatives – CEI (Latvia), Wide Open School – WOS (Slovakia), Centre for Innovation in the Early Years – VBJK (Belgium), Associazione 21 Luglio (Italy) and Partners Hungary Foundation.