EQUAP | Enhancing Quality through Participation

A good cooperation between parents and ECEC practitioners has always been one of our loved topics. International cooperation on this issue seems evident then.

Enhancing Quality through Participation

The EQUAP project aims at a well thought-out, genuine parent policy in ECEC in Europe. We strongly believe that this has positive effects on quality. Therefore the acronym EQUAP: Enhancing Quality through Participation.

Under coordination by SERN, the Sweden Emilia Romagna Network, partners form Italy, Belgium, Sweden, Slovenia, Portugal, Greece and Latvia explore inspiring practices of parent involvement and collect research on this topic.

Job shadowing

The innovative part in this project is international exchange and learning by means of jobshadowing: ECEC practitioners get to know practices in other countries through intensive work visits.

For Belgium, the team of Elmer childcare is an enthusiastic partner. Or, as Narimane Sidali states: ‘This exchange is a very enriching and inspiring way to learn new things. It opens your mind, both as a professional and a person.’

Persons and practices grow

Growth is what all jobshadowers confirm. While they grow as professionals, their organisation grows with them as well. Practices are exchanged and ‘exported’ and bring new ideas and insights among practitioners across borders. New practices from abroad are being tested in the participating organisations.

EQUAP guidelines and toolbox

All European participating partners collect the gathered knowledge, the exchange of experiences and the tested and developed practices into a set of guidelines for parent participation.

The guidelines and a toolbox will be finalised at the last project meeting. To be expecte in June 2017.

• November 2014 | Forli, Italy

• April 2015 | Porto, Portugal

• September 2015 | Slovenska Bistrica, Slovenia

• February 2016 | Liepaja, Latvia

• September 2016 | Rethymnon, Crete

• January 2017 | Brussels, Belgium

• May 2017 | Linkoping, Sweden | final meeting