ISSA Conference 2024

ISSA Conference is a unique platform to listen to the world’s leading Early Childhood experts, an opportunity to learn from your peers, but also to share the knowledge and experience you have gained. ISSA unites researchers, practitioners and policymakers from around the world. Together, we explore themes through discussion and interactive sessions, and we share lessons learned and proven solutions from which you will benefit instantly. As always, there will be a rich and diverse offer of one-day pre-conference workshops and site visits for you to choose from, alongside conference sessions.

This year’s conference will be preceded by a diverse range of pre-conference workshops, taking place in parallel on 22 October, and optional site visits and sightseeing tours will be organized on 25 October. The conference will also mark ISSA’s 25th anniversary as a learning community devoted to Early Childhood Development, and the 30th anniversary of the Open Society Foundations’ Step by Step Program, upon whose legacy and resulting network ISSA continues to build.

It Takes an Early Childhood Ecosystem for All Young Children to Thrive

The 2024 conference theme recognizes that we live in disruptive and increasingly challenging times where the concern for protecting and asserting the importance of safe, healthy, and happy childhoods is more pressing than ever. Recent years, especially since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic and continuing with economic downturns and devastating consequences of wars, have clearly demonstrated how rapidly changes are occurring, exposing vulnerabilities not only in societies but also in early childhood systems.

Through its strands, the theme of ISSA 2024 Conference invites discussion on:

What changes in early childhood systems are demanded by the contexts in which we are living?
Which policies and programs have been transformative and initiated systemic changes at local, country, regional level that improve the quality of childhoods?
What system changes are required to address acute or emerging issues, for which solutions still need to be identified, researched, and developed?

Call for Proposals
The conference Call for Proposals is now open. Click here to send your submission to present during a workshop or session. Read more about the conference strands by clicking here.

Should you have questions regarding the Call for Proposals, please contact us here.

Important dates:

Call for Proposal deadline: 22 April 2024
Registration opens: May 2024
Registration closes: 7 October, 2024
Pre-Conference Events: 22 October, 2024
ISSA Conference 2024: 23-24 October, 2024
Site Visits & Sightseeing Tours: 25 October, 2024

Learn more about ISSA Conference 2024: