Co-baby. Professional childcare within coworking spaces.

"<< Background >>The European Union is committed to improve the provision of childcare services to help people balance their professional and family life. Currently, women bear greater responsibility for childcare compared to men. The main problem is that many mothers are forced to leave their jobs due to the lack of flexibility and the high cost of daycare centers. One solution are the ""co-baby"" spaces, which are co-working spaces with a dedicated environment for children, allowing parents to work while their kids play in a safe mood. This new approach is seen as an alternative welfare system to meet the needs of self-employed and freelance working parents. However, this solution is still underdeveloped and limited to major cities, while it would be important for the labor policies of EU member states to support such an initiative for a better work-life balance.Furthermore, the promotion of equality and acceptance as fundamental values should begin from early childhood, with competent and adequately trained professionals.<< Objectives >>The main objectives of the project are:a) In-depth study and adoption of training methodologies aimed at promoting the introduction of topics related to diversity from early childhood. The idea is to teach children from a young age the importance of acceptance and inclusion, fostering an open mindset towards cultural, gender, ethnic, and other forms of diversity through games, creative activities, stories, and social interactions that promote understanding and empathy towards others.b) In-depth exploration of topics related to parental support, child psychology, and the ability to create an integrated family support plan with other childcare services. This involves training educators, practitioners, and childcare personnel on how to provide effective support to families in an integrated and coherent manner.c) In-depth study and adoption of training methodologies aimed at strengthening soft skills from early childhood through interactive activities, role-playing games, creative tasks, and structured play moments that promote the development of soft skills.<< Implementation >>1) Identification and collection of best practices and successful initiatives in Europe concerning early childhood education and care services within co-working spaces. The information and experiences shared by these successful initiatives have been gathered into a compendium of best practices, serving as a resource for other organizations interested in implementing similar services.2) Training: This activity involved a series of training initiatives and international exchanges to promote knowledge and skills necessary for implementing early childhood education and care services in co-working spaces. In detail:a) A training week in the Netherlands (September 2022), which saw the participation of 10 professionals in the field of Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC).b) A study visit in Slovenia (November-December 2022).c) Different national workshops in Italy, Slovenia, and the Netherlands (April, May, June 2023).<< Results >>Main results:1)Compendium of best practices related to Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC) services within co-working spaces, endowed with an Open Creative Commons license, enabling open and unrestricted sharing and dissemination of the material, available in English, Italian, and Slovenian.2)A training week in the Netherlands (September 2022), which saw the participation of 10 professionals in the field of Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC).3)A study visit in Slovenia (November-December 2022).4)Different national workshops in Italy, Slovenia, and the Netherlands (April, May, June 2023).Main outcomes: -Training and awareness-raising: The activities aim to raise awareness and provide training to ECEC professionals and educators from various organizations, as well as to co-working managers interested in innovating. The purpose of these activities is to share the identified best practices and promote the adoption of new methodologies and work-life balance approaches in the ECEC field.-Synergies and knowledge exchange: The training and awareness-raising activities have fostered synergies among different entities that wish to implement co-working/co-baby approaches, facilitating a fruitful exchange of knowledge."