Global Engagement
Partners & policy
At Early Years, we believe that investing in early childhood is one of the most powerful ways to improve lives, strengthen communities and contribute to more peaceful, inclusive societies.
Our global engagement is rooted in more than 60 years of working alongside young children, families, communities and early years professionals in Northern Ireland.
At a glance
- International work
- More than two decades
- Founding member
- INPB and ECPC
- INPB
- We hold the Network’s Secretariat
- ECPC
- Treasurer, Governance and Finance Committee
Our experience of working in a society affected by conflict has helped shape an approach that places relationships, respect for difference, inclusion and the rights of the child at the heart of early childhood development.
For more than two decades, we have taken that experience onto the international stage - building partnerships, sharing evidence and practice, learning from communities across the world and helping to demonstrate the important role early childhood development can play in reconciliation, social cohesion and sustainable peace.
Today, we work with international networks, researchers, practitioners, policymakers, civil society organisations and communities to ensure that young children and their families are visible in the decisions that shape their futures. Our global engagement is a two-way process: sharing what we have learned in Northern Ireland while bringing international knowledge, innovation and evidence back into our work at home.
Our approach
Our international work starts with a simple principle: what happens in early childhood matters - for children today and for the societies they will help shape tomorrow.
Children develop within families, communities and wider social environments. Where those environments are affected by poverty, division, displacement, violence or conflict, the consequences can extend across generations. Evidence also demonstrates the potential of high-quality early childhood development to strengthen relationships, build resilience and create foundations for more inclusive and peaceful communities.
Our approach brings together practice, research, learning, advocacy and partnership.
We work internationally to:
promote the rights, wellbeing and participation of young children
strengthen the capacity of parents, families, practitioners and communities
develop and share evidence-informed approaches to early childhood development
connect research and evidence with policy and practice
support reconciliation, inclusion and respect for difference
create opportunities for practitioners and communities in different countries to learn from one another
advocate for greater recognition and investment in early childhood development within national and international policy
Central to this work is partnership. We recognise that knowledge does not sit within any single organisation, profession or country. Sustainable change happens when communities, practitioners, researchers, policymakers and international organisations work together - and when the knowledge and experience of those closest to children are valued alongside academic and scientific evidence.
Our work supports the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals and the international recognition of every child’s right to develop, participate and thrive.
Our networks
Early Years has played a significant leadership role in developing and sustaining international networks that connect early childhood development with peacebuilding, reconciliation, research, policy and global advocacy.
We are founding members of both the International Network on Peace Building with Young Children (INPB) and the Early Childhood Peace Consortium (ECPC). Our involvement goes beyond participation. Early Years has helped establish, develop and sustain both networks and continues to provide leadership, governance and organisational support to enable their work internationally.
Founding member since 2004
International Network on Peace Building with Young Children (INPB)
Early Years has been at the forefront of international collaboration around early childhood and peacebuilding since 2004, building relationships between practitioners, researchers and organisations working with young children in societies affected by conflict and division. This work contributed to the establishment of the International Network on Peace Building with Young Children (INPB), of which Early Years is a founding member.
The Network brings together people and organisations from across the world committed to increasing understanding of the impact of conflict on young children and demonstrating the potential of early childhood development to contribute to reconciliation, social cohesion and sustainable peace.
Early Years continues to play a central leadership and operational role within INPB. We hold the Network’s Secretariat and provide funding support, organisational infrastructure and financial stewardship for its international programme of work.
The INPB Strategic Plan 2025-2030 builds on this experience. Its priorities include strengthening and expanding the Network, developing and scaling evidence-informed programmes, building the capacity of early childhood professionals, creating and sharing research and knowledge, and advocating for policies that recognise the rights and needs of young children and families affected by conflict. Its ambition is to ensure that early childhood development is recognised internationally as an essential component of reconciliation and peacebuilding - before, during and after conflict.
Founding member since 2013
Early Childhood Peace Consortium (ECPC)
Early Years is also a founding member of the Early Childhood Peace Consortium (ECPC) and has been actively involved in the Consortium since its inception in 2013. ECPC is a global movement bringing together civil society organisations, NGOs, researchers, practitioners, young people, the private sector and United Nations agencies around a shared ambition: to establish early childhood development as a foundation for sustainable peace.
Since the Consortium’s establishment, Early Years has contributed its experience from Northern Ireland while helping to shape ECPC’s wider strategic direction and development.
Today, Early Years continues to play a leading role in the Consortium’s governance and financial leadership. We are represented on the ECPC Governance and Finance Committee and hold the role of Treasurer, contributing to effective governance, financial oversight and sustainability.
The ECPC Strategic Agenda for Global Action 2025-2030 focuses on four interconnected areas: research, practice, advocacy and policy. It seeks to strengthen the translation of evidence into action, scale effective early childhood approaches within national and international peacebuilding frameworks, build the capacity of a new generation of leaders and establish ECPC as a global knowledge-to-action network.
From Northern Ireland to a global community
Our long-standing involvement in INPB and ECPC demonstrates the contribution that experience developed in Northern Ireland can make internationally.
For decades, Early Years has helped connect local experience with global evidence and expertise - creating partnerships through which knowledge, research, innovation and practice can travel between countries and communities. At the same time, these relationships ensure that Early Years continues to learn from international partners and bring that knowledge back to Northern Ireland.
Through our founding membership, leadership, Secretariat, governance and financial stewardship roles, we are helping to ensure that early childhood has a strong voice within the global conversation about peacebuilding, reconciliation and sustainable development.
Projects and learning
Global engagement is about more than sharing ideas. It is about testing approaches, building evidence and translating learning into practical improvements for children, families and early childhood professionals.
Over many years, Early Years has worked with partners across Europe and internationally on programmes focused on early childhood development, reconciliation, inclusion, participation, digital learning, professional development and peacebuilding.
Building on the legacy of shared education
PeacePlus ASPIRE
ASPIRE is the direct successor to the EU-funded Sharing from the Start project, building on its foundations in shared learning, early childhood development and cross-community engagement.
While Sharing from the Start demonstrated the impact of collaboration between early years settings across Northern Ireland and the border counties, ASPIRE takes that learning forward through a broader, multi-year programme focused on inclusion, parental engagement, digital innovation and improved educational outcomes.
Within ASPIRE, the pre-school engagement work is led by Early Years, ensuring continuity of expertise and a consistent approach to high-quality early childhood practice. This strand supports pre-school settings to strengthen family involvement, enhance children’s learning experiences and deepen community connections.
By carrying forward the principles of shared education and early intervention, ASPIRE represents the next stage of Early Years’ work to support a more cohesive, equitable and future-focused early years landscape across Northern Ireland.
Completed programme - 2017-2022
Sharing from the Start
Sharing from the Start was an EU-funded PEACE IV Shared Education initiative delivered by Early Years in partnership with the National Childhood Network and the Fermanagh Trust.
Running from 2017 to 2022, the programme supported early years settings across Northern Ireland and the border counties to form cross-community and cross-border partnerships. Children participated in joint curricular classes designed to improve educational outcomes, build friendships and promote good relations from the earliest stage of life.
Grounded in research showing that prejudices can form in early childhood, the project created meaningful opportunities for children, parents and educators to learn together, deepen understanding and strengthen social cohesion.
More than 9,900 children, alongside hundreds of practitioners, took part - demonstrating the important role early childhood education can play in reconciliation and community integration.
Publications
Research, evaluation and knowledge exchange are central to our global engagement. Together with our international partners, Early Years has contributed to a growing evidence base exploring the relationship between early childhood development, children’s rights, social cohesion, reconciliation and peacebuilding.
Our publications and resources capture learning from practice, research and international collaboration. They are designed to support practitioners, researchers, policymakers and organisations working with young children and families.
Our work includes resources exploring:
- early childhood development and peacebuilding
- the impact of conflict on young children, families and communities
- reconciliation and respect for difference
- evidence-informed programmes and practice
- children’s participation and agency
- professional development and capacity building
- translating research and evidence into policy and practice
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International Network on Peace Building with Young Children Strategic Plan 2025-2030
The Network’s direction and priorities for 2025-2030: strengthening the Network, scaling evidence-informed programmes, developing professional capacity, expanding research and knowledge, and advocating for children and families affected by conflict. · 15.97 MB
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Foundations for a Peaceful World
A collection of perspectives and learning from people working in regions affected by conflict. · 3.56 MB
International Toolkit
A practical resource developed to support work with young children and families in regions experiencing or emerging from conflict.
Through sharing this knowledge, we aim to support a wider international community committed to improving outcomes for young children and ensuring that early childhood has a stronger voice within research, policy and investment.
International projects and collaborations
Our wider international work has included collaborations across reconciliation, children’s participation, digital learning and professional development.
Completed collaboration
1. PRECEDE
Supporting reconciliation through early childhood education
PRECEDE brought together organisations working through early childhood education and development to support reconciliation, respect for diversity and inclusion. Early Years contributed its experience and practice expertise through international partnership working.
Completed project - archived resources
2. CEPNET
Supporting children to investigate and share ideas
CEPNET connected primary-age children and educators across Europe, supporting children to explore issues that mattered to them and participate actively in learning. The project developed resources and approaches supporting children’s participation and project-based learning.
Completed project - resources available
3. EARLY
Digital learning and educational robotics
The EARLY project explored innovative approaches to digital and distance learning in early childhood, including digital learning and educational robotics for children aged three to seven. Resources developed through the project included curriculum and lesson materials for early education.
Completed project - 2016-2019
4. WYRED
Listening to young people in a digital society
WYRED supported children and young people to explore issues affecting their lives in a digital society and communicate their perspectives.
Past collaboration
5. NETQ6 / Access Europe
Sharing approaches to early childhood education
NETQ6 connected education and training organisations across Europe to exchange approaches to education for children aged zero to six, with a focus on quality, inclusion and the different needs encountered in early childhood education.
Contact
Work with us - build the next partnership with Early Years
The challenges facing young children increasingly cross national boundaries. Conflict, displacement, inequality, climate change and social division reinforce the need for organisations, researchers, practitioners, communities and policymakers to work together.
Early Years welcomes opportunities to develop new international partnerships, contribute to research, exchange knowledge and practice, participate in collaborative projects and strengthen the global evidence base for investment in early childhood.
Whether you are an early childhood organisation, researcher, policymaker, funder, practitioner or potential project partner, we would be pleased to hear from you. Email Early Years about international collaboration.
- Telephone
- 028 9066 2825
- info@early-years.org