Inspiring policies and practices in Early Childhood Intervention (ECI)

In the framework of the ECI Greece project, we will be hosting an awareness-raising workshop focusing on inspiring practices of Early Childhood Intervention (ECI) from across Europe. It will be held on February 23rd from 18:00 - 19:30 Athens time/ 17:00 - 18:30 CET.
The workshop will begin with an update on the project's state of play. We will look discuss the creation of a booklet on good practices on ECI from service providers that support children with disabilities and their families, and on the process leading to the drafting of an Action Plan.
We will then investigate the Portuguese ECI system, one of the most developed ones in Europe. It started as a “bottom-up” process in the 1980s, through the development of practices that focused on home-based, and family-centred features to build a holistic ECI system. Portuguese policymakers became increasingly aware of these practices and adopted legislation in 1999 and 2009 that helped to establish a Portuguese National Early Childhood Intervention System.
After Portugal, we will move to Bulgaria and learn about Karin Dom, an ECI service based in Varna, that provides a variety of services to children and families as well as training for other NGOs. Similarly to Portugal, such practices are influencing legislation in Bulgaria. The country is now going through a reform process on early childhood which includes ECI.
The aim of this workshop will be to reflect together on how the lessons learned in these two European Countries can be of inspiration for Greek practitioners, policymakers, and citizens.
The workship is organised by EASPD in partnership with the Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs, and the European Commission’s Directorate-General for Structural Reform Support.
Interpretation between Greek and English will be provided.
Agenda
17:00 - 17:15 CET 18:00 - 18:15 EET
| Welcome and introduction to the workshop
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17:15 - 17:30 CET 18:15 - 18:30 EET | ECI Greece project: collection of good practices
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17:30 - 18:00 CET 18:30 - 19:00 EET | The Portugese system of community-based ECI
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18:00 - 18:25 CET 19:00 - 19:25 EET | Bulgaria from practices to policies
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18:25 - 18:30 CET 19:25 - 19:30 EET | Conclusions and next steps |
The “Technical Support to implement reforms to support the development of family-centred early childhood intervention services in Greece” project – (otherwise known as ECI Greece) runs from September 2021 to September 2023. It is funded by the European Union via the Technical Support Instrument and is implemented by the European Association of Service providers for Persons with Disabilities (EASPD) in cooperation with the Directorate General for Structural Reform Support (DG REFORM) of the European Commission and counts on the continued cooperation and support of national and international stakeholders.
