28 January 2026
The International Step By Step Association (Issa) has launched its platform The ECOS Institute (Early Childhood One System), a shared space for professional learning, exchange, and collaboration across early. The Arab Network for Early Childhood (ANECD) is a co-steward and a knowledge partner in this institute, in which it contributes in courses, learning experiences and expertise.

ECOS is a global, collaborative learning movement dedicated to strengthening early childhood practice and systems so that every young child can learn, grow, and thrive. It brings together practitioners, NGOs, universities, policymakers, funders, researchers, and regional networks in a shared ecosystem of professional learning, knowledge exchange, and co-creation.

The early childhood field is overflowing with commitment, and too often starved of connection. Brilliant people work in isolation. Powerful ideas remain locked in one language, one project, or one country at a time. Knowledge is scattered. Funding is tight. Capacity is stretched. And the people holding systems together are burning out.

ECOS has been created to close this gap. It is a new global meeting ground for the early childhood ecosystem, where all those who shape young children’s lives come together to learn, collaborate, and build what the field needs next.

As a collective platform where diverse expertise, lived experience, and local realities shape learning that drives real system change, ECOS is not a service provider in the traditional sense. Across courses, learning journeys, events, peer exchanges, and communities of practice, ECOS supports transformative professional learning that strengthens practice, deepens expertise, and advances equity and inclusion. Its offerings are developed in partnership with practitioners and organizations across contexts and regions, ensuring they are grounded, relevant, and responsive to the realities of the field.

At the heart of ECOS is a shared purpose: strengthening the people and systems that support young children’s lives. Through collaboration, reflection, and shared ownership, it works to elevate the early childhood workforce, amplify partner leadership, and contribute to stronger, more equitable early childhood systems worldwide.

In addition to ISSA and ANECD, Knowledge partners of ECOS institute include:

• Partners Hungary Foundation
• Vbjk (Center for Innovation in the Early Years)
• Somos Crianza (Coalición Latinoamericana de Redes por la Primera Infancia)
• International Child Development Initiative
• Centro per la Salute del Bambine e dei Bambini
• Pedagoški inštitut