What is it about where children live that makes a difference?

Join us for a conversation with Sharon Goldfeld and Hyahno Moser, where they’ll look at the foundational community factors for early childhood development and ask ‘how can we use place to drive equitable outcomes for kids?’.

 

Too many children are born into circumstances that do not provide them with a reasonable opportunity to make a good start in life. By the time Australian children start school, clear inequities in their development and wellbeing are already evident – driven by their life circumstances.

 

Disadvantaged circumstances for children lead to developmental inequities and differential outcomes that are unjust, unnecessary, and preventable and can be measured well into adulthood, with particularly adverse outcomes for some subpopulation groups. The challenge remains as to how best to meaningfully address these inequities and translate efforts into effective policies and practice; those likely to have the greatest impact.

 

Converging with this effort is the increasing interest and drive, nationally and internationally, in place-based approaches as a platform for creating change. While the rhetoric is rightly compelling, the challenge remains to ensure that research, data and implementation issues remain tightly coupled with community effort.

 

In other words – what is it about where children live that can make a difference to early childhood development?