Finland’s “Strength from Parenthood” project: What an international initiative can teach ECEC leaders in 2026

The Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare (THL) and the Finnish National Agency for Education are launching national work to strengthen support for parenthood through the Strength from Parenthood project. The project aims to develop shared national principles for supporting parenthood and to build tools and practices that strengthen collaboration between health/social services and education professionals, drawing on local pilots in family centres, early childhood education and care, and comprehensive schools. While this is from Finland, the approach closely aligns with Australian ECEC expectations around partnerships with families and governance systems under the NQF, particularly Quality Area 6 and Quality Area 7. 

The Finnish National Agency for Education published a joint press release stating that THL and the Agency are launching national work to strengthen parenthood. The release says the Strength from Parenthood project will bring parents’ perspectives into service development and set shared national principles for supporting parenthood. 

The work is described as being based on local pilots across:

• family centres
• early childhood education and care
• comprehensive schools

The release also states that:

• the project launched in November 2025
• early pilots involve the Wellbeing services county of Southwest Finland and the City of Turku, with national organisations also involved 
• the project is co-financed by the European Union
• the project patron is Suzanne Innes-Stubb, spouse of Finland’s President 

Although the initiative is Finnish, the underlying premise is widely recognisable: families often experience services as fragmented, and support for parenting can become reactive, only emerging when concerns escalate. The release argues for a shift in public and professional language, noting that debate about parenting can be coloured by demands or blame and that this can affect family wellbeing and coping. 

For ECEC leaders, that is not an abstract point. Tone, timing and trust shape whether families engage early and openly, especially around children’s behaviour, development, and transitions.

The project will compile tools and practices to support cooperation between health and social services professionals and education professionals, and to respond to different family situations, using lessons from pilots to shape later phases. 

It also states a key goal: creating a nationally uniform view of what “support for parenthood” means across daily life, services and societal structures, from the parents’ perspective. 

The strongest, most practical links sit in family partnership expectations and the governance systems that make partnership consistent.

Quality Area 6 recognises that collaborative relationships with families are fundamental to achieving quality outcomes for children, and that community partnerships based on communication and collaboration are essential. 

The Finnish release’s emphasis on cross-sector collaboration (health/social services and education) and working from parents’ perspectives mirrors the spirit of QA6: partnership as an ongoing relationship, not a crisis response. 

Quality Area 7 explicitly positions governance as supporting the operation of a quality service that is child safe, with management systems in place to manage risk and enable effective operation. 

In practice, sustained partnership depends on systems: how communication is planned, who responds, how concerns are documented, how cultural safety and inclusion are supported, and how feedback leads to change.

The EYLF v2.0 frames practice as working in partnership with children and families and communities, and offers guidance to support reflective, respectful relationships. 

This Finnish initiative offers a useful prompt for service-level reflection, without importing another country’s policy settings.

1) Make family engagement proactive, not problem-triggered
Review whether most contact happens only when issues arise. Consider how daily communication, learning documentation and transition planning invite shared decision-making early.

2) Audit the “tone” of policies and communication
Check whether documents read as compliance warnings or as supportive guidance. A strengths-based approach supports trust while still keeping expectations clear.

3) Strengthen cross-service collaboration pathways
Where children and families need support beyond the service, map referral and collaboration pathways so families do not have to navigate systems alone—consistent with the intent of QA6. 

4) Treat partnerships as governance work
Embed family partnership expectations in induction, professional learning, complaint handling, and continuous improvement routines—consistent with QA7’s focus on effective systems and oversight. 

Source: Finnish National Agency for Education