Publications & Reports

Browse editions of our journal, Early Childhood Matters, and our Early Childhood in Focus series, along with other selected publications and reports. All are free to download or read online.

Infant, Toddler, Caregiver-Friendly Neighbourhood (ITCN) Framework and Guidelines

What can cities do to nurture positive early experiences and protect against negative ones? How can neighbourhoods and therefore cities support parents to talk and play with children? How can… Read more

Spotlight on the Many Voices of the Early Childhood Workforce - Solutions Summit Report

This report summarises the insights gained from the Solutions Summit and brings together the concrete solutions to real-world challenges facing the early childhood workforce that were co-created by the attendees. Read more

Annual Report 2018

Annual Report 2018

The Bernard van Leer Foundation’s Annual Report 2018 contains a foreword from the Chair of the Board of Trustees, message from the Executive Director, selected updates from around the world… Read more

Informing design and implementation for early child development programmes

Informing design and implementation for early child development programmes

There is global interest in early childhood development, especially following the launch of Nurturing Care Framework in 2018, which sets out the dream to reach every child, everywhere, and give… Read more

Get ready for data! - A tool to guide data use to serve babies, toddlers and the people who care for them

Get ready for data! - A tool to guide data use to serve babies, toddlers and the people who care for them

Data is vital as cities investigate ways to measure progress and improve outcomes for babies, toddlers and the people who care for them. This tool is designed to help city… Read more

Toolkit - For measuring urban experiences of young children

People moving count, stationary activity mapping, intercept surveys and sensory mapping are among the tools that can be used to gather data on young children and caregivers in cities. They… Read more

Playing it safe? - A global white paper on risk, liability and children’s play in public space

White paper - Playing it safe? - Tim Gill - Bernard van Leer Foundation

Available data suggests that playgrounds are comparatively safe places – yet, in many countries, concerns about potential liability for injury have led to bureaucratic risk reduction initiatives that might not… Read more

Small but mighty - The incredible story of the women who made sure Guatemala’s educational system didn’t leave the nation’s indigenous children behind

This case looks back at the Foundation’s funding for APPEDIBIMI (the Association for Holistic and Multidisciplinary Development) between 1990 and 2008, and its work to improve the prospects of children… Read more

Behind the scenes - From universities to state schools: the Bernard van Leer Foundation’s far-reaching impact on learning

Two distinct stories emerged from El Salvador when we asked Jean Friedman-Rudovsky to look back on our involvement in the country between the late 1980s and phasing out in 2008. Read more

Violence, breaking the cycle - How one of the world’s most dangerous nations stops brutality from spreading

Violence, breaking the cycle - How one of the world’s most dangerous nations stops brutality from spreading

It was in the late 1980s that the Bernard van Leer Foundation began to explore working in El Salvador, primarily as part of our broader Latin American approach to build… Read more