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.
The second Joint Action Fund call focuses on supporting initiatives that demonstrate a commitment to effective and efficient advocacy, close collaboration with health institutions, and sustainable funding of ECD services and projects aligned with Places to Grow’s strategic themes. The awarded projects are being carried out throughout 2025.
SUPPORT FOR THE ESTABLISHMENT OF AN EARLY CARE SYSTEM AT REGIONAL LEVEL
by Amalthea
This project aims to establish a connected early care system in the Pardubice Region of the Czech Republic to better support vulnerable children aged 0 to 8. It aims to address the lack of cooperation among the health, social, and educational sectors, which often results in delays in identifying and providing necessary support. By raising awareness and promoting collaboration across these sectors, the project aspires to create sustainable conditions for early identification and intervention. The approach is based on the Primokiz methodology, with implementation focused on the town of Chrudim.
BRIDGING THE GAP: BUILDING TRUST BETWEEN ROMA FAMILIES AND PRESCHOOL INSTITUTIONS
by Awen Amenca
This project works to address barriers to preschool participation among Roma families in the Czech Republic. By tackling mistrust and systemic biases, the initiative fosters understanding through consultations, workshops, and awareness campaigns. In collaboration with Ostrava University, PAQ Research, and the Czech ECD Platform, the project aims to foster trust between families and institutions while advocating for more inclusive early childhood policies grounded in evidence.
EARLY CHILDHOOD AS A KEY ISSUE IN THE NEXT ELECTIONS
by the Czech ECD Platform
The project aims to strengthen the advocacy and communication skills of the Czech Early Childhood Platform in preparation for national elections. By refining their messaging and framing around early childhood issues, this initiative will empower members to effectively engage decision-makers and the public with compelling, evidence-based arguments. Drawing on local experiences and successful policy change strategies, the project seeks to elevate early childhood development to a top political priority.
CHILD WELFARE ROUNDTABLE IN BALASSAGYARMAT
by the Lamenda Foundation
In Balassagyarmat, Hungary, this project seeks to establish a dedicated roundtable for child welfare and protection, fostering collaboration among local institutions. While various services are available, including nurseries, pediatricians, and educational programs, cooperation among these services has been inconsistent. The project seeks to ensure that children’s development is monitored and supported from pregnancy through to school entry, with a specific focus on engaging parents, providing education, and improving coordination between agencies.
BUILDING FOUNDATIONS: STRENGTHENING EARLY CHILDHOOD DEVELOPMENT THROUGH COMMUNITY BUILDING AND ADVOCACY
by the OdPerinky
This national initiative in Slovakia aims to raise awareness of ECD and advocate for systemic change through policy reform. The project seeks to enhance public understanding, mobilize 1,000 ambassadors for the “first 1,000 days,” and advocate for legislative reforms, sustainable funding, and coordinated care. It builds on the previous efforts of platform members such as the Carpathian Foundation, Cesta von, and SOCIA, all of which strive to make ECD a societal and political priority.
CREATING CONDITIONS FOR LONG-TERM PROVISION OF ECD IN SLOVAKIA
by the SOCIA
This project addresses two critical needs in Slovakia’s Early Childhood Development (ECD) system: providing accessible information to parents from marginalized communities and formalizing professional support roles. It will co-create easy-to-understand materials with input from families to improve their understanding of early years support. In parallel, it advocates for legislative recognition and public funding of parenting support professionals, laying the groundwork for sustainable and systemic ECD development.
WOULD YOU LIKE TO SUPPORT THESE PROJECTS?
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 aimed 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 were 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.
The Czech ECD Platform 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.
Project Completed: December 2024
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).
SOCIA 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.
Project Completed: April 2025
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.
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.
Project Completed: January 2025
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.
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Christina Ermilio
christina@weareholis.org