Local Matters: Option for improving early learning and care in Edmonton

As part of CUP’s 20th anniversary we are hosting the Issues and Impacts Series. Throughout the series, we engage field experts in discussing issues relevant to the wellbeing of children, youth and families. As a complement to the field expert talk, we invite our local research partnerships to provide a more intimate discussion of local projects working to understand and achieve impacts on the same issue.

In this local presentation, Dr. Robert Buschmann discusses early learning and care in Edmonton. Since 2017, CUP has been working with the Edmonton Council for Early Learning and Care (ECELC) to improve early learning and care in Edmonton. The ECELC includes members from municipal and provincial government, community groups, and a variety of other organizations, all working toward the development of a system of high-quality early learning and care services in Edmonton, with an emphasis on meeting the needs of low-income and vulnerable families. This talk will explore what local entities of all kinds can do to help create such a system in light of both the provincial policy context in Alberta and the federal push for a national system of early learning and care.

------

The overall objectives of the Issues and Impact Series are to:

• LISTEN: To gain a broader understanding of key issues relative to CUP's priority areas and how community voice and engagement are essential to these issues. Field experts will provide broader scale perspectives to the issues and local research partnerships will touch on key CBPR concepts like partnership development, social action, community voice, power relations, reciprocity, policy impact, mutual benefits, collective reflection, respect, relevance, and relationality.

• CONNECT: To connect to stories of research partnerships, how they were initiated, what they are learning, what opportunities they are maximizing, what challenges they have overcome, and how they are mobilizing their learning for broader impact in practice, programs and policies.

• BUILD: To expand CUP’s network of community, government, funding, and academic partners who share a strong and clear vision about the value of community-engaged research that supports the wellbeing of children, youth, and families.