What we do
We foster collaboration and build partnerships to improve the community’s capacity to support optimal early childhood development.By facilitating local action, and documenting the impact at the community and collective (provincial) levels, ECCA contributes to children and families establishing the foundations of health and well being in the early years…which will last a lifetime.
Coalitions focus on:
- Knowledge Mobilization
- Community Engagement
- Collaborative Planning
- Coalition Development
Coalition Impact in 2018...
799
Activities hosted or attended by Coalitions
40000
Participants attended Coalition activities
20000
Resources and key messages shared with communities
150
Presentations delivering key messages to stakeholders
Knowledge Mobilization
Raise awareness of the importance of the early years & how the first five years of rapid brain development forms lifetime behaviours, social skills and learning capacity.Promote parents and families as the primary and most important caregivers of young children and foster the concept that every member of a community has a role in supporting the development of young children.
Community Engagement
The process of encouraging community involvement in local efforts and actions related to early childhood development. Coalitions lead and/or participate in community activities, workshops and other learning activities.
Collaborative Planning
Collaboration refers to individuals or organizations working together to address problems and delivery outcomes that are not easily or effectively achieved alone. Work collaboratively to assess community need and respond to current situations.
Coalition Development
Aimed at building Coalition capacity to work with community stakeholders and partners to take effective action.
Help communities create a shared vision and develop a plan of action (Coalition Community Action Plan) to create community capacity to support young children and their families.
Connect with other Early Childhood Coalitions across Alberta.
Documenting Impact
Coalitions from across the province connect using CoLab Online’s Community Spaces to collaborate, obtain timely info and access meaningful resources. CoLab’s customized data collection tools provide Coalitions, communities and the province with real time data and analysis. Data collected from Coalitions is used at both a community and provincial level to measure collective impact and to inform planning.
- Participant Surveys measure how Coalition activities impact awareness and knowledge of ECD, as well as changes in caregiver confidence.
- Member Surveys are designed to measure collaborative planning and Coalition development.
- Output Tool data captures all Coalition activities that have taken place throughout the year including meetings, coalition training, collaborations, events and learning opportunities.
