ECOS NEWS
Join us in this new chapter for the Early Childhood field, as together we shape what comes next, to ensure a brighter future for every child.
In the children’s book Imagine, author Alison Lester begins each page with a simple prompt: imagine. Every spread opens onto a different world: rainforest, ocean, desert, each alive with interaction and shared rhythms. These worlds work because nothing exists in isolation. Everything responds, adjusts, and contributes to a shared whole. They feel both magical and possible.
Imagine a world where every young child has what they need to thrive: nutritious food, good health, safety, responsive care, quality interactions, and meaningful learning. Now imagine professionals across the early childhood ecosystem working together across disciplines, sectors, and borders to navigate today’s harrowing realities. All in service of a brighter future for every child.
The early childhood field is overflowing with commitment, and too often starved of connection. Brilliant people work in isolation. Powerful ideas remain locked in one language, one project, or one country at a time. Knowledge is scattered. Funding is tight. Capacity is stretched. And the people holding systems together are burning out.
ECOS is a new global meeting ground for the early childhood ecosystem, where all those who shape young children’s lives come together to learn, collaborate, and build what the field needs next. It creates space to ask the big questions, together: how to protect young children’s wellbeing in increasingly complex and challenging contexts, how to prepare the stakeholders and workforce for overlapping crises, and how to advance equity, inclusion, peace, and humanity in ways that are sustainable.
Today, we launch the ECOS Institute — and everyone working for and with young children is invited to take part. By hosting ECOS, ISSA offers a shared infrastructure built on decades of experience, designed to unite partners and scale impact together.
We invite you to imagine in the same way.
Imagine a world where every young child has what they need to thrive: nutritious food, good health, safety, responsive care, quality interactions, and meaningful learning. Now imagine professionals across the early childhood ecosystem working together across disciplines, sectors, and borders to navigate today’s harrowing realities. All in service of a brighter future for every child.
Because the truth is that children don’t experience life in pieces, but as a whole, engaging their bodies, homes, relationships, and development. Yet the systems meant to support them remain fragmented: separate mandates, funding streams, language, and solutions.
ECOS has been created to close this gap.
The early childhood field is overflowing with commitment, and too often starved of connection. Brilliant people work in isolation. Powerful ideas remain locked in one language, one project, or one country at a time. Knowledge is scattered. Funding is tight. Capacity is stretched. And the people holding systems together are burning out.
ECOS is a new global meeting ground for the early childhood ecosystem, where all those who shape young children’s lives come together to learn, collaborate, and build what the field needs next. It creates space to ask the big questions, together: how to protect young children’s wellbeing in increasingly complex and challenging contexts, how to prepare the stakeholders and workforce for overlapping crises, and how to advance equity, inclusion, peace, and humanity in ways that are sustainable.
At ECOS knowledge flows. Professionals are co-creators. Local organizations and networks drive impact. Think of ECOS as the early childhood field’s central nervous system — connecting the parts, strengthening signals, and helping what works and innovations travel faster and farther.
Today, we launch the ECOS Institute — and everyone working for and with young children is invited to take part. By hosting ECOS, ISSA offers a shared infrastructure built on decades of experience, designed to unite partners and scale impact together.
Consider this your invitation. Follow ECOS on LinkedIn and visit the ECOS website.
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