In 2024, Places to Grow launched the Joint Action Fund (JAF). This grant initiative is integral to our strategy of fostering collaborative innovation, peer learning, and adaptable early childhood development (ECD) practices among organisations and stakeholders. We amplify their impact and drive systemic change by promoting coordinated action among a portfolio of carefully selected interconnected projects in the Czech Republic, Hungary, and Slovakia. This helps build a robust and evolving ECD ecosystem.
This initiative provides both financial and non-financial support. Beyond funding individual projects, it seeks to cultivate a cohesive portfolio of interconnected initiatives capable of generating crucial insights, fostering more effective collaborations, and ultimately driving systemic change. This comprehensive approach underscores our commitment to transforming the ECD landscape, fostering innovation, adaptation, and a relentless pursuit of excellence.
We are seeking to fund initiatives that demonstrate a commitment to:
We believe investing in core enabling conditions is essential for achieving lasting transformation. Therefore, we are looking for initiatives that prioritise:
We are offering grants of up to €34,000 for projects that meet these criteria. The total amount to be granted is €135,000, but it may increase as we are seeking more funds for this pooled initiative.
Our approach to grantmaking is designed to foster collaboration and learning from the outset. Building strong enabling conditions, like the relationships among our grantees, is essential to achieving system-level change. That's why our process looks a little different:
We believe this hands-on, collaborative approach will enable our grantees to achieve greater impact and contribute to lasting systemic change in early childhood development.
This is also a new approach for us, and we are committed to learning and adapting as we go. We recognise that we may make mistakes along the way. Still, we believe that we can create a more effective and impactful grantmaking process by being open to feedback and continuous improvement.
The Joint Action Fund is open to a diverse range of applicants committed to innovating and advancing ECD in Czechia, Slovakia, and Hungary. To be eligible to apply, the lead applicant must be a legal entity based in one of these three countries: Czech Republic, Slovakia, and Hungary.
Organisations outside these countries can be partners in a project but cannot be the lead applicant. This ensures that the project is grounded in the local context and led by an organisation with a deep understanding of the specific challenges and opportunities within the region.
We particularly welcome joint applications from diverse stakeholders, such as:
Collaborative projects that bring together different perspectives and expertise are highly valued and align with Places to Grow's collaborative ethos.
JAF 1 grantees are welcome to apply. Please get in touch with your Places to Grow contact person to get more information, especially if your JAF 1 project is not finished yet.
Proposals will be evaluated based on the following criteria:
We expect projects to take a maximum of 9 months to complete from the awarding of the grant.
If this pooled fund interests you and you would like to join the philanthropic organisations supporting systemic change in ECD, please get in touch with the Places to Grow Project Lead, Maxim Dedushkov, at hello@weareholis.org.
The first Joint Action Fund call focused on supporting experiments testing innovative solutions in ECD, and projects aligned with Places to Grow’s strategic themes. The awarded projects have been carried out throughout 2024.
LOCAL INCUBATORS OF ECD
by the Czech ECD Platform
Emily Vargas-Baron, a researcher from Stanford, proved that the most efficient ECD programmes are always intersectoral: they also focus on parents and are coordinated with a vision. There are many ways to achieve this goal. This project aims to determine which tool would be the most effective and preferred by local stakeholders in four chosen Czech municipalities.
The four direct goals of this Joint Action Fund project are the following: diverse stakeholder engagement as it is much harder to build cooperation without relation between individuals; gaining a deeper understanding of local needs to be able to support them adequately; exploring if the evidence-based Primokiz methodology, held by ISSA, sufficiently addresses local needs in the Czech context; and a preliminary research on which organisation in the Czech Republic can provide a Primokiz licence in the future.
Mid-project Update: The Czech ECD Platform has collaborated closely with local governments to identify needs and has brought together diverse stakeholders in the ECD ecosystem through study visits, workshops, and regional research. This approach has fostered relationships and facilitated a collective vision for supporting early childhood development at the national level.
COORDINATED SERVICES OF ECD IN A SELECTED LOCALITY IN THE BANSKÁ BYSTRICA REGION
by SOCIA
The project aims to pilot and verify a coordinated approach to providing early care support services in selected segregated communities in the Banská Bystrica Region, Slovakia.
The coordinated ECD will implement the new procedures defined in "The Path of a Child with a Health or Social Disadvantage in the Early Childhood Support System" in practice. SOCIA participated in creating the mentioned material as part of the Permanent Interdepartmental Working Group on the Strategy and Action Plan of coordinated early intervention and early care services for 2022 - 2030 in Slovakia.
The three direct milestones of this Joint Action Fund project are the following: establishing cooperation with the chosen municipality - signing a cooperation agreement or memorandum; employing a local coordinator of ECD, and an agreement on the implementation of the child's journey through the early childhood support system across all areas (social, health, and education).
Mid-project Update: SOCIA has successfully hired a Local ECD Coordinator who actively develops community activities. They have established regular collaboration among local organisations, resulting in consistent meetings to address specific family cases. Families have already shown greater trust and willingness to accept support, establishing a solid foundation for effective integrated services.
TOWARDS IMPROVED QUALITY OF OMAMA AND THE SUBSEQUENT ECD SOCIAL SERVICE
by Cesta von
Cesta von’s project aims to evaluate and maximize the Omama program's experiences in shaping a systemic approach to early childcare through advocacy. The project has two key goals.
The first is research: Cesta von will conduct an in-depth program evaluation, assess existing data, and collect missing data to objectively identify the impact, benefits, and areas for improvement. The research will focus on the impact of ECD on parental competencies, barriers to access and acceptability, and the most significant contributors to impact. All relevant outcomes of the research and know-how will be shared with other ECD providers or the state.
The second key goal is advocacy: based on the research results, Cesta von will provide recommendations for the design of a state-supported early childcare social service. They will also share the knowledge acquired throughout this grant and actively advocate for the quality of planned systemic measures, creating recommendations for the quality framework of a newly established service.
Mid-Project Update: They have collaborated with P2G Partners Schola Empirca and Socia throughout the project. They have partnered with Schola Empirica to collect comprehensive data through desk research, interviews, questionnaires, and focus groups. They are working with Socia and engaging relevant ministries to shape an effective model for a new law that would recognise early childhood development as an expert activity within social services legislation.
ECD ECOSYSTEM MAPPING AND VISUALISATION PROJECT IN BANSKÁ BYSTRICA REGION
by Holis
Using a portfolio approach, the goal is to create a visual map of the current ECD ecosystem in the Banská Bystrica Region. Rather than focusing on isolated projects or sectoral challenges, the portfolio approach allows for a collection of initiatives to be viewed and managed collectively, ensuring synergies and unified goals. The ecosystem map will be a particularly useful resource for the ECD coordinator role of the Banská Bystrica Region.
Mid-Project Update: Working closely with the Banská Bystrica regional government office, Holis has created an ECD Ecosystem Map that acknowledges and highlights the existing ECD network (including the organisation and their services). The project’s data-driven approach has helped map the needs of children and families, assisting government decision-making and ensuring better resource allocation.
Christina Ermilio
christina@weareholis.org