One of the main components of the project “Place to grow: child friendly municipalities” is strengthening the capacities of local self-government representatives, as well as educational staff from early school education and care, primary and secondary education in the field of children’s rights and comprehensive local planning for children. Due to the lack of evidence-based data on the specific training needs of the target groups, on the one hand, and the necessity of designing the trainings in a way that would correspond to their needs and expectations, on the other hand, an appropriate analysis was carried out and the findings of the same are presented in a e-report.
The field research identify several relevant areas in which there is a need to improve the knowledge and skills of representatives of local authorities and professionals from educational institutions for innovative programs and approaches that will directly respond to the needs of children and affect their well-being. Advancing knowledge in dealing with peer violence, establishing effective communication with parents and encouraging socio-emotional development of children from the youngest age were a particular area of interest of the participants. The need for cross-sectoral networking and collaboration between professionals working with children was highlighted.
The analysis also indicated that, in general, the representatives of the municipalities had fewer opportunities for building their capacities in these areas, compared to the educational staff. The educational staff shared the necessity of capacity building in the direction of overcoming the challenges in the processes of children’s participation and familiarization with new approaches that will have a motivating effect on the children.
Read the full analysis and key findings in the e-report.