Places to Grow

✨As we look back on this year, we can’t help but smile when we see the joy, the hugs, the laughter, and the shared moments from our #PlacestoGrow conference last month. It was a day that reminded us why we do this work—because even when the challenges feel isolating, frustrating, or disheartening, coming together showed us just how much we’ve achieved and how much lies ahead when we move forward 𝑡𝑜𝑔𝑒𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟. With that in mind, we believe that rest and reflection are just as important as collaboration and productivity. To honor this, our offices will be closed from December 21st through January 6th. We hope you, too, take time for yourself this holiday season—to recharge, celebrate, and reflect on all the incredible work you’ve done this year. A huge thanks from the Places to Grow and Holis team for an exceptional year. We’re looking forward to an energizing and impactful 2025. But for now, we wish you a peaceful holiday season and a very happy new year! ✨ #ECD #earlyyearsmatter #earlychildhooddevelopment #investinthefuture #supportingfamilies #ECEC #collaboration #socialimpactinitiative #togetherisbetter #conference #newyear #2025

A little gift for you for this holiday season... 💫 Our 𝑷𝒍𝒂𝒄𝒆𝒔 𝒕𝒐 𝑮𝒓𝒐𝒘 𝑪𝒐𝒏𝒇𝒆𝒓𝒆𝒏𝒄𝒆 𝑹𝒆𝒄𝒂𝒑 𝑽𝒊𝒅𝒆𝒐 has been released! 💫 Watch here: https://lnkd.in/eKy_JNGJ 🎥 A huge thanks to our videographer, livia valkova for capturing these beautiful moments. #PlacestoGrow #EarlyChildhoodDevelopment #startswithchildren #supportingchildren #transformingtomorrow #reels #memories #onefeeling #november #conference

🧐 𝐖𝐡𝐨 𝐜𝐚𝐧 𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐥𝐲 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐉𝐨𝐢𝐧𝐭 𝐀𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐅𝐮𝐧𝐝 (𝐉𝐀𝐅) 𝐒𝐞𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐝 𝐂𝐚𝐥𝐥? 🧐 Our applications for the second call for the Joint Action Fund (JAF) grant scheme proposals are still 𝐎𝐏𝐄𝐍⚡️. Watch this short video for a brief explanation of who can apply for the second call. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ⚡️𝐉𝐨𝐢𝐧𝐭 𝐀𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐅𝐮𝐧𝐝 𝐑𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝 𝟐 ⚡️ 🧐 Looking for proposals with effective and efficient advocacy, close collaboration with health institutions, & sustainable funding of ECD services ✍️ You can write the proposal in English, Slovak, Hungarian, or Czech. 👉 For more information, https://lnkd.in/eRKpvWHS 🗓️ Submit your proposal by January 20th #earlychildhooddevelopment #placestogrow #ECD #ECEC #collaboration #grantscheme #slovakia #czechrepublic #hungary #investintomorrow #investinthefuture #investinchildren #elligible #applynow #applicationstatus

✨ Memories from the Places to Grow Conference 2024 ✨ Last month, we were thrilled to dive deeper into the economic dimensions of early childhood education and care (ECEC) with keynote speaker Daniel Prokop from PAQ Research. Drawing on his research within the context of the Czech Republic, Daniel shared valuable insights that resonate beyond national borders: ⚡️ Good ECEC matters: The data speaks for itself, with positive impacts at the regional and individual level ⚡️ ECEC is the most effective program in education, proven to have long-term benefits ⚡️ Quality, timing, and parental involvement are crucial for success ⚡️ Recognize the structural barriers: insufficient state funding, high costs for households, fragmentation of services ⚡️ Good practices exist! Such as Preschool Špálova, Ostrava-Poruba and Centre for Preschoolers, Chrudim. Both show the value of establishing strong relationships with parents and equipping them with tools, habits, and resources). 𝑇ℎ𝑖𝑠 𝑖𝑠 𝑤ℎ𝑦 𝑤𝑒 𝑏𝑒𝑙𝑖𝑒𝑣𝑒 𝑖𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑤𝑜𝑟𝑘 𝑤𝑒 𝑑𝑜. 𝐵𝑢𝑖𝑙𝑑𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑠𝑡𝑟𝑜𝑛𝑔 𝑟𝑒𝑙𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛𝑠ℎ𝑖𝑝𝑠 𝑖𝑠 𝑎𝑡 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑐𝑜𝑟𝑒 𝑜𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑠 𝑤𝑜𝑟𝑘. 𝐵𝑦 𝑏𝑟𝑖𝑛𝑔𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑝𝑒𝑜𝑝𝑙𝑒 𝑡𝑜𝑔𝑒𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟 𝑎𝑐𝑟𝑜𝑠𝑠 𝑠𝑒𝑐𝑡𝑜𝑟𝑠 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑐𝑜𝑢𝑛𝑡𝑟𝑖𝑒𝑠, 𝑤𝑒 𝑐𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑡𝑒 𝑠𝑝𝑎𝑐𝑒 𝑡𝑜 𝑙𝑒𝑎𝑟𝑛 𝑓𝑟𝑜𝑚 𝑜𝑛𝑒 𝑎𝑛𝑜𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑤𝑜𝑟𝑘 𝑡𝑜𝑤𝑎𝑟𝑑𝑠 𝑎 𝑐𝑜𝑚𝑚𝑜𝑛 𝑔𝑜𝑎𝑙: 𝑎 𝑏𝑒𝑡𝑡𝑒𝑟 𝑓𝑢𝑡𝑢𝑟𝑒 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑎𝑙𝑙 𝑐ℎ𝑖𝑙𝑑𝑟𝑒𝑛. 🌱 Stay tuned for more conference memories in the coming weeks. 💫💫💫 🎥 livia valkova 📸 Martin Faltejsek #ECD #earlyyearsmatter #earlychildhooddevelopment #investinthefuture #supportingfamilies #ECEC #collaboration #socialimpactinitiative #conference #peerlearning #czechrepublic

A quick reminder for our ⚡️𝐉𝐨𝐢𝐧𝐭 𝐀𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐅𝐮𝐧𝐝 (JAF) 𝐑𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝 𝟐 for applications⚡️... ✍️You have until 20 January 2025 at midnight CEE to complete the Project Proposal. You can fill out the form in English, Czech, Hungarian, or Slovak language. ✍️ A projektjavaslatot 2025. január 20-án, közép-európai idő szerint éjfélig lehetséges beadni. A pályázati felhívás angol, cseh, magyar vagy szlovák nyelven tölthető ki. ✍️ Formulár je možné vyplniť do 20. januára 2025 do polnoci stredoeurópskeho času. Formulár môžete vyplniť v anglickom, českom, maďarskom alebo slovenskom jazyku. ✍️ Formulář je možné vyplnit do 20. ledna 2025 do půlnoci středoevropského času. Formulář můžete vyplnit v angličtině, češtině, maďarštině nebo slovenštině. 🔗: https://lnkd.in/ertFE2uN ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Here are some things to remember about JAF 2... 🧐 We're looking for proposals with effective and efficient advocacy, close collaboration with health institutions, & sustainable funding of ECD services 👉 For more information, https://lnkd.in/eRKpvWHS #earlychildhooddevelopment #placestogrow #ECD #ECEC #collaboration #grantscheme #slovakia #czechrepublic #hungary #investintomorrow #investinthefuture #investinchildren

⚡️Why do we believe in investing in early childhood development? Why did we host a conference about it in November?⚡️ Here is a short snippet of a longer video that is now available on our YouTube channel: https://lnkd.in/eJ4cbfQj 🎥 Luc Kordas Tereza Sejkova #ECD #earlyyearsmatter #earlychildhooddevelopment #investinthefuture #supportingfamilies #ECEC #collaboration #socialimpactinitiative We Are Holis

🌱 VOLUME FOUR of the Places to Grow (P2G) Community Newsletter has been released - the last of the year! 🌱 🧐 Here’s a sneak peek for you 🧐 ⚡️ P2G Joint Action Fund Second Call for Proposals - still open! ⚡️ Resource on ECD and Climate Change from ISSA - International Step by Step Association & Eurochild ⚡️ Short Video from Cesta von about their Omama Program ⚡️ Conference & Launch of Slovak National ECD Platform, OdPerinky (Centrum včasnej intervencie Košice, n.o. Karpatská nadácia, SOCIA, & Cesta von) Are you interested in signing up for our newsletter? Want to share something with the community? 💌 Sign up via https://lnkd.in/eCGhfS8U 💌 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ⚡️𝐉𝐨𝐢𝐧𝐭 𝐀𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐅𝐮𝐧𝐝 𝐑𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝 𝟐 ⚡️ 🧐 Looking for proposals with effective and efficient advocacy, close collaboration with health institutions, & sustainable funding of ECD services 👉 For more information, https://lnkd.in/eRKpvWHS 🗓️ Submit your proposal by January 20th #earlychildhooddevelopment #placestogrow #ECD #ECEC #collaboration #grantscheme #slovakia #czechrepublic #hungary #investintomorrow #investinthefuture #investinchildren #newsletter #endofyear #december We Are Holis

🧐 𝑾𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒊𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒆 #𝑷𝒍𝒂𝒄𝒆𝒔𝒕𝒐𝑮𝒓𝒐𝒘 𝒂𝒑𝒑𝒓𝒐𝒂𝒄𝒉 𝒕𝒐 𝒈𝒓𝒂𝒏𝒕𝒎𝒂𝒌𝒊𝒏𝒈? 🧐 Our applications for the second call for the Joint Action Fund (JAF) grant scheme proposals are 𝐎𝐏𝐄𝐍⚡️. Watch this short video for a brief description of our approach to grants! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ⚡️𝐉𝐨𝐢𝐧𝐭 𝐀𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐅𝐮𝐧𝐝 𝐑𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝 𝟐 ⚡️ 🧐 Looking for proposals with effective and efficient advocacy, close collaboration with health institutions, & sustainable funding of ECD services 👉 For more information, visit https://lnkd.in/eRKpvWHS 🗓️ Submit your proposal by January 20th #earlychildhooddevelopment #placestogrow #ECD #ECEC #collaboration #grantscheme #slovakia #czechrepublic  #hungary #investintomorrow #investinthefuture #investinchildren We Are Holis

⚡️Check out the latest ISSA - International Step by Step Association newsletter - last one of the year ⚡️ We were particularly drawn to this article: https://lnkd.in/etg8eyHy Follow the post below for more! #earlyyearsmatter #investinthefuture #climatechange #earlychildhooddevelopment #stepbystep

🌱 Early childhood matters! 🌱 The latest issue of Romano Vodi magazine underscores the importance of the early years. We are thrilled to share that our partners, Platforma pro včasnou péči, have not only been featured but have also helped bring this topic to the front cover ✨ The article describes programs that have been transformative for children, such as Cesta von CZ's Omama project, and how these kinds of programs can significantly change individuals and society. Investing in the early years is investing in all of us. Supporting Children, Transforming Tomorrow. Read the full article below! 👇👇👇