Van Leer Foundation

Early Childhood Matters 2025 is out now 📣 We know that a good start for babies and toddlers shapes the rest of their lives – but what do parents and other caregivers need for a #GoodStart? #ECM2025 offers compelling research, bold ideas and inspiring reflections from programmes supporting parents in the early years worldwide. This year’s edition explores three themes: 🟡Understanding human connection: Evidenced insights on parental wellbeing from science and cultural practices 🟢Rebuilding villages of care: Practical ways of recreating community networks that support caregivers and families 🔵Collective approaches to healing: Ideas and initiatives from around the world that show us how to help parents manage the impact of war/trauma Featuring leaders across disciplines, their combined perspectives show that every sector has a role to play in caring for mothers, fathers and other caregivers. Discover online now: bit.ly/ECM2025-online #LinkInBio #EarlyChildhoodMatters #WhatParentsNeed #ListenToParents

The Van Leer Foundation is dedicated to supporting inclusive societies where young children, caregivers and communities can flourish. Since 1949, we have been working alongside our partners to create positive social change around the world. Our programmes focus on strengthening communities — where everyone's needs, starting with the youngest, are considered and met. We look forward to sharing and celebrating important stories of learning and impact with you.

The Van Leer Foundation is dedicated to supporting inclusive societies where young children, caregivers and communities can flourish. Since 1949, we have been working alongside our partners to create positive social change around the world. Our programmes focus on strengthening communities — where everyone's needs, starting with the youngest, are considered and met. We look forward to sharing and celebrating important stories of learning and impact with you.

𝐅𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐨𝐝 𝐬𝐜𝐫𝐢𝐩𝐭𝐬. 𝐅𝐨𝐮𝐫 $𝟏𝟓𝐊 𝐠𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐬. 𝐂𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐞, 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐟𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐥 𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐩. 𝐄𝐱𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐬𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐲 𝐝𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐥𝐨𝐩𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭. The Black List Parenthood Writers Fellowship will provide $15K grants and extensive mentorship to four writers with compelling, parenthood-focused projects. Submissions open now. Created in collaboration with The Black List, The Human Safety Net, Equimundo: Center for Masculinities and Social Justice, and American Institute for Boys and Men, The Parenthood Writers Fellowship will provide significant support to four writers as they develop their parenthood stories. Fellowship recipients will be paired with experienced creative mentors and parenthood experts to further support project rewrites and story development. Submitted scripts must focus on the beginning of life, stories about pregnancy and becoming a parent and how the transition into motherhood and fatherhood reshapes who we are — especially during the rollercoaster of the first five years. After completing a revision of their selected project, Parenthood Fellows will also develop project pitches for their revised scripts and will be invited to the 2027 𝐿𝑖𝑔ℎ𝑡𝑠! 𝐶𝑎𝑚𝑒𝑟𝑎! 𝐼𝑚𝑝𝑎𝑐𝑡! 𝑆𝑡𝑜𝑟𝑦𝑡𝑒𝑙𝑙𝑒𝑟 𝐺𝑎𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑖𝑛𝑔 during the Venice Film Festival in Spring 2027 ~ an annual forum celebrating the power of storytelling hosted by The Human Safety Net in the heart of San Marco Piazza in Venice. 📅 This fellowship is open to film and television writers – the final deadline is September 1, 2026. ℹ️ All you need to know at link in bio!

Parents, we know you don’t have much time, but do you have 15 mins to spare? Together with UNS, we’ve put together a global survey to understand how we can improve cities for you and your children. What you share will contribute to new thinking around urban networks, movements and knowledge to help design places where parents can flourish. If your child is under 6, we would love to hear from you. 📲 link in bio!

Pregnancy makes you think in two directions at the same time: back to those who came before you and forward to those yet to come. For ecological engineer Nadina Galle, looking back meant the connection to nature she inherited from her mother, who taught her the names of flowers and the quiet comfort of being outside. Looking forward meant passing that love of the outdoors on to her own child. What began for her as simple rituals in pregnancy, like stepping outside, touching a tree, walking the same patch of green each day, carried into early motherhood as a way to soothe her baby, steady herself and pass on a relationship with the natural world. In #EarlyChildhoodMatters 2026, Galle shares how those small rituals carried into early motherhood after a traumatic birth. Stepping outside became a way to recover and later a way to parent. Fresh air softened her baby’s cries. Trees calmed her own racing mind. Now her toddler’s first request each morning is “outside mama”. Our collective connection to nature has declined by around 60% since 1800, largely because parents are no longer passing it on to their children. But as Galle argues, we don’t need distant wilderness. It’s ordinary areas close to home that can help parents and children reconnect with nature. Think pocket parks that feel vast to a child, a street tree or a 20-minute walk outdoors. 🌳link in bio

“𝐸𝑣𝑒𝑛 𝑖𝑓 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑙𝑜𝑣𝑒 𝑦𝑜𝑢𝑟 𝑗𝑜𝑏 𝑡𝑟𝑒𝑚𝑒𝑛𝑑𝑜𝑢𝑠𝑙𝑦, 𝑎𝑠 𝐼 𝑑𝑖𝑑, 𝑏𝑒𝑐𝑜𝑚𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑎 𝑝𝑎𝑟𝑒𝑛𝑡 𝑖𝑠 𝑠𝑢𝑐ℎ 𝑎 𝑏𝑖𝑔 𝑐ℎ𝑎𝑛𝑔𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑖𝑡 𝑐𝑎𝑛 𝑠𝑡𝑖𝑙𝑙 𝑚𝑎𝑘𝑒 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑑𝑜𝑢𝑏𝑡 𝑦𝑜𝑢𝑟 𝑑𝑒𝑐𝑖𝑠𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑡𝑜 𝑔𝑜 𝑏𝑎𝑐𝑘 𝑡𝑜 𝑤𝑜𝑟𝑘. 𝐹𝑒𝑒𝑙𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑠𝑢𝑝𝑝𝑜𝑟𝑡𝑒𝑑 𝑏𝑦 𝑦𝑜𝑢𝑟 𝑠𝑢𝑟𝑟𝑜𝑢𝑛𝑑𝑖𝑛𝑔𝑠, 𝑖𝑛𝑐𝑙𝑢𝑑𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑦𝑜𝑢𝑟 𝑒𝑚𝑝𝑙𝑜𝑦𝑒𝑟, 𝑤𝑖𝑙𝑙 𝑟𝑒𝑑𝑢𝑐𝑒 𝑠𝑡𝑟𝑒𝑠𝑠 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑒𝑛𝑎𝑏𝑙𝑒 𝑝𝑎𝑟𝑒𝑛𝑡𝑠 𝑡𝑜 𝑏𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑝𝑎𝑟𝑒𝑛𝑡𝑠 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑦 𝑤𝑎𝑛𝑡 𝑡𝑜 𝑏𝑒.” When we say that it takes a village to raise a child, we often forget that employers are part of that village. It makes a huge difference in the transition to parenthood whether workplaces recognise and accommodate care, or quietly treat it as something to manage alone alongside work. Tessa Roseboom, Future Generations Commissioner at Amsterdam University Medical Center, knows what happens when an employer takes that responsibility seriously. She and her team set out to understand how employees experience becoming parents while working in healthcare through surveys and interviews with thousands of staff. What the staff described will be familiar to many parents: hesitation about taking leave, guilt about handing work to colleagues, anxiety about flexibility. The project is now moving beyond diagnosis and into treatment. Amsterdam UMC is testing practical and cultural interventions, including mentoring and peer support, as well as changes in workplace norms. Link in bio!

“𝑊𝑒 𝑒𝑣𝑎𝑙𝑢𝑎𝑡𝑒𝑑 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑤𝑜𝑚𝑒𝑛’𝑠 𝑏𝑟𝑎𝑖𝑛𝑠 𝑏𝑒𝑓𝑜𝑟𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑦 𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑐𝑒𝑖𝑣𝑒𝑑 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑎𝑓𝑡𝑒𝑟 𝑏𝑖𝑟𝑡ℎ. 𝑊𝑒 𝑎𝑙𝑠𝑜 𝑖𝑛𝑐𝑙𝑢𝑑𝑒𝑑 𝑎 𝑔𝑟𝑜𝑢𝑝 𝑜𝑓 𝑤𝑜𝑚𝑒𝑛 𝑤ℎ𝑜 ℎ𝑎𝑑 𝑛𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑟 𝑔𝑖𝑣𝑒𝑛 𝑏𝑖𝑟𝑡ℎ 𝑜𝑟 𝑒𝑥𝑝𝑒𝑟𝑖𝑒𝑛𝑐𝑒𝑑 𝑝𝑟𝑒𝑔𝑛𝑎𝑛𝑐𝑦. 𝑇ℎ𝑒 𝑟𝑒𝑠𝑢𝑙𝑡𝑠 𝑎𝑠𝑡𝑜𝑢𝑛𝑑𝑒𝑑 𝑢𝑠.” As recently as 2015, we understood more about how pregnancy affects rodent brains than human ones. When neuroscientist Susana Carmona turned her attention to women’s brains, she was surprised by the result. The changes were profound, and almost entirely overlooked. Using longitudinal brain imaging, Carmona and her colleagues found that pregnancy alters the brain more dramatically than almost any other known life transition. But forget any myths about “baby brain”. The results showed that the adaptations are linked to bonding, empathy and care. They’re so distinctive, in fact, that brain scans can tell with complete accuracy whether a woman has been pregnant between two imaging sessions. In her article, Carmona reflects on what it means – as a scientist and a mother – to finally study motherhood seriously. She also shares how her team is now developing the first digital twin of the maternal brain, which uses real data to better understand how women’s brains adapt before and after birth. Each image, each scan and each story helps us understand how truly transformational motherhood is. 🧠 link in bio

👶 Out now: Early Childhood Matters 2026! I’m v late to posting about this because it’s been such a full-on start to the year, but I was thrilled to contribute a brand new comic and illustrations to the fantastic Early Childhood Matters journal published by the @vanleerfoundation . 🌟 This issue explores parenthood in a changing world, and is full of incredible research and insight from scientists, artists, economists, and thinkers into how we can do better for parents and children. Download the issue at the link in my bio! https://earlychildhoodmatters.online/issues/early-childhood-matters-2026/

𝐖𝐡𝐲 𝐝𝐨𝐞𝐬 𝐢𝐧𝐯𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐢𝐧 𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐬 𝐦𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐟𝐞𝐜𝐭 𝐬𝐞𝐧𝐬𝐞 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐥𝐲 𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐥𝐝𝐡𝐨𝐨𝐝 𝐝𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐥𝐨𝐩𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭? Join us online this Thursday at 2pm CET to hear from two innovative leaders from Jordan and South Africa who are prioritising parental wellbeing in real-world programmes and seeing the generative impact on young children. This conversation brings together: 🔷 Dr. Edzani Mphaphuli, Executive Director at Grow Great Campaign on why a national campaign to end stunting decided to start with the health and wellbeing of mothers 🔷 Rania Subieh, Executive Director at Zaha Cultural Center مركز زها الثقافي on how urban spaces that encourage play can also be designed to support parents Moderated by Patricia Núñez, Early Years Expert at the Van Leer Foundation This is the last launch event for the 2026 issue of #EarlyChildhoodMatters 👉 register now at link in bio!

If we want families to thrive, fathers and men cannot be on the sidelines. Join us online on Thursday 19 February at 2pm CET for a conversation exploring meaningful ways to include fathers, as well as other men and boys, in caregiving roles. This session is for anyone who wants to see more men on the care playing field. The conversation brings together: - Lee Gettler, Director of the Hormones, Health, and Human Behavior Laboratory at the University of Notre Dame, who will share research on the biological changes that help men be involved fathers - @morad.fareed , founder of @fc.mother , who will speak about how football can champion maternal health and what it teaches us about teamwork and shared responsibility. - @nachopereyra23 , journalist and guest editor of Early Childhood Matters 2026, reflecting on insights from conversations on fatherhood with authors across the issue. The session will be moderated by @rushdamajeed , Chief Programme Officer at the Van Leer Foundation This is the second event in the launch series for the latest issue of #EarlyChildhoodMatters 2026. Register now at link in bio! *Live interpretation will be available in French, Spanish and Portuguese*

📣 Early Childhood Matters 2026 is out now! 𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘪𝘧 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘮𝘰𝘴𝘵 𝘢𝘥𝘷𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦𝘥 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘣𝘭𝘦𝘮-𝘴𝘰𝘭𝘷𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘴𝘺𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘮 𝘩𝘢𝘴 𝘣𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘶𝘴 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘢𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘨? 𝘗𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘴. In a rapidly changing world full of uncertainty, parents are pros at responding to constant change. Their bodies, ways of thinking and identities adapt in real time. They are the most resourceful people on the planet, constantly finding new ways to cope and care, whether that’s soothing a child or solving a small crisis. But much of this work, which keeps everyday life moving, goes unnoticed and still falls to mothers. The 2026 issue, “Parenthood in a Changing World”, explores how our changing world is shaping the transition to parenthood and how parents and leaders are responding. 𝐓𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐲𝐞𝐚𝐫’𝐬 𝐞𝐝𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐞𝐱𝐩𝐥𝐨𝐫𝐞𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐫𝐞𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐧𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐬: 🟪 Navigating uncertainty & new horizons in parenthood: How shifting work patterns, technologies and economic pressures present a new reality for new families. 🟩 Raising children collectively: Why care isn’t only mothers’ work, and how families, communities and children are stronger when it’s shared 🟨 Investing in parents is investing in children: How supporting mothers, fathers and other caregivers creates benefits that ripple across generations Featuring scientists, economists, artists, innovators, government and civil society leaders, #ECM2026 shows that you don’t have to be a parent to care about caregiving. Because caring for parents is an investment in everyone. 🔗 Discover #EarlyChildhoodMatters 2026 at the link in bio!