Young Children, Public Spaces and Democracy Erasmus Project

Project Title

Young Children, Public Spaces and Democracy

Project Key Action

This project related with these key action: Cooperation for innovation and the exchange of good practices

Project Action Type

This project related with this action type : Strategic Partnerships addressing more than one field

Project Call Year

This project’s Call Year is 2014

Project Topics

This project is related with these Project Topics: New innovative curricula/educational methods/development of training courses; Reaching the policy level/dialogue with decision makers

Project Summary

The ‘Young Children, Public Spaces and Democracy’ project (BRIC) involved the democratic engagement of young children (under five years) in public spaces in their communities in England, Italy and Sweden. The rationale for the project is that young children are often excluded from access or participation in public spaces and that their democratic engagement is not only a right, but also an essential aspect of their identity, education and citizenship. The BRIC project is a partnership between Anglia Ruskin University in Cambridge, UK (ARU), Azienda Speciale Servizi in Bassa Reggiana, Italy (ASBR) and Barnpedagogiskt Forum, Goteborg, Sweden (BPF). The BRIC acronym is derived from the names of the partners.

The objectives of BRIC are to enable: a) an exchange of ‘good practice’ between preschool teachers in three countries; b) systematic education and training around democratic engagement in public spaces; c) the development of open educational resources and targeted activities to engage early childhood professionals, parents, the local community and key stakeholders, including local politicians and representatives from business.

The BRIC project involved a minimum of six preschools in each of the three countries (Italy, Sweden and England) where a lead preschool teacher coordinated a systematic and progressive programme of civic engagement, starting from the dialogue between children, preschool teachers and parents. Key stakeholders such as parents, local politicians and business people are also invited to participate in the project. Civic engagement was organized around regular visits to three specific
‘Focus Spaces’: i) a pavement, footpath, or equivalent); ii) an indoor space (such as a library, but not a preschool); and, a green outdoor space (such as a park or woodland). These activities took place firstly with children aged 3 – 5 years and secondly with children aged two years and under. The visits and experiences involving the ‘Focus Spaces’ were also documented and reflected on by the participants (Case Studies) and disseminated to preschools, parents, local communities and politicians through a series of Public Forums. In addition, systematic Teaching, Training and Learning Activities for the participating teachers were organized through a regular series of Transnational Exchanges in each of the participating countries. Further, an international conference to disseminate the BRIC project to a wide audience was held in Goteborg, Sweden in June 2017.

Overall, the BRIC project has shown that:
i. It is possible to promote holistic development and democracy starting with early childhood.
ii. Systematic education and training around democratic engagement of children in public spaces is both desirable and highly valuable for the preschool teachers’ continuing professional development – leading to deeper reflection and understanding.
iii. By using public spaces as educational arena, it is possible to provide good education with or without infrastructure and involve the whole community.
iv. Both young children and older people benefit from regular interaction in public spaces.

The impact of BRIC in the communities involved has been to facilitate greater awareness and integration of preschool education, as evidenced by the highly positive feedback and comments about the project recorded at all public forums and the BRIC international conference. During the BRIC project the ‘voices’, thoughts and impressions of the children, preschool teachers, families and communities involved have helped us build a more profound sense of belonging to the places we live in. A significant part of this process is the ‘traces’ that are left when children and adults visit public spaces.

Through continued dialogue and reflection around action in public spaces BRIC preschool teachers have acknowledged that their practice has developed to include a wider community based conception of pedagogy. The BRIC approach has become an integral part of the activities of each of the participating preschools and their networks.

The project will be sustained through established BRIC preschool teachers’ networks, Permanent Open Forums in each participating country, open public access to the BRIC website (www.bricproject.org) and a Documentation Centre hosted on the website. Due to the perceived success of the project the partner organizations also intend to bid for further funds to continue the work of BRIC.

EU Grant (Eur)

Funding of the project from EU: 354995 Eur

Project Coordinator

ANGLIA RUSKIN UNIVERSITY HIGHER EDUCATION CORPORATION & Country: UK

Project Partners

• Barnpedagogiskt forum
• azienda speciale servizi bassa reggiana