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.
Roots of change - How a Guatemalan grassroots women’s organisation creates holistic child-centred communities, one neighbourhood at a time
From 1990 to 2008, the Bernard van Leer Foundation funded FUNDAESPRO (Fundación Esfuerzo y Prosperidad, or Strength and Prosperity Foundation), a grassroots women’s organisation in Guatemala City. Our involvement started… Read more
Comparative Global Study of Urban Spaces to Support Parents
How can designated spaces for parents and children be established within existing municipal infrastructure such as community centres? What needs should these spaces focus on meeting? What services and programmes… Read more
Building on Islamic values - A fundamental shift in Moroccan early childhood education
The Bernard van Leer Foundation’s involvement in Morocco ran from 1981 to 2008. The story revolves around one key individual – a thought leader and influencer who was the linchpin… Read more
Emerging Early Childhood Inequality: On the Relationship Between Poverty, Sensory Stimulation, Child Development, and Achievement
Funded by the Bernard van Leer Foundation, this literature review illuminates how economic inequality affects educational achievement – in general and specifically in Israel, where economic and academic inequalities are… Read more
Early Childhood Matters 2018
The 2018 edition of Early Childhood Matters features keynote contributions from the President of Colombia, Juan Manuel Santos Calderón, on the ‘De Cero a Siempre’ policy; Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director-General… Read more
Mothers of Rotterdam: scaling a social services programme in the Netherlands
This case study looks at how Mothers of Rotterdam, a social service programme based in the Netherlands and founded by a charismatic venture philanthropist, approached the challenge of growing and… Read more
Mix & Match - Tools to design urban play
This toolkit provides possible design interventions to create more inclusive play environments from the street to the neighbourhood. It is aimed at stakeholders including policy-makers, designers, planners, architects, NGOs and… Read more
Child-friendly urban design - Observations on public space from Eindhoven (NL) and Jerusalem (IL)
This report presents findings on urban design solutions for increasing child-friendliness at the neighbourhood level based on a project funded by the Bernard van Leer Foundation. It reviews the literature… Read more
Space to Grow - Ten principles that support happy, healthy families in a playful, friendly city
In partnership with the Bernard van Leer Foundation’s Urban95 initiative, this paper by Gehl Institute and Gehl briefly distils 10 initial findings from research to explore how public spaces in… Read more
Services for children and family in Istanbul district municipalities
This report summarises how the Turkish Economic and Social Studies Foundation (TESEV) produced an interactive map of services for children and families across 39 district municipalities in Istanbul, correlated with… Read more