Group picture of Brazil and Jordan delegations
HomeStoriesJordan meets Brazil: An inspiring leadership study tour
HomeStoriesJordan meets Brazil: An inspiring leadership study tour

Jordan meets Brazil: An inspiring leadership study tour

Learning from Boa Vista, Jundiaí, and São Paulo — three cities at the forefront of innovation for early childhood development

Group picture of Brazil and Jordan delegations

In February, a Jordan delegation of nine partners and the Van Leer team embarked on a leadership study tour across Brazil to learn from their work to improve the wellbeing of babies, toddlers and their caregivers.

The delegation visited three pioneering cities in early childhood development: Boa Vista, Jundiaí, and São Paulo. Eager to exchange learnings on how early childhood policies can be implemented on the ground, partners in Brazil and the Van Leer team shared insights into urban innovation, early childhood programmes and services, and governance and sustainability.

Boa Vista

Boa Vista, nestled on the northern edge of Brazil, welcomed the Jordan delegation in its warm embrace. Here, early childhood is thriving. The city has developed holistic early childhood programmes that emphasise integration of health, education, and social services, which serve both local and Venezuelan communities. Boa Vista is a city that cares, in policy and in practice; the similarities and differences were eye-opening to new perspectives and possibilities for cities in Jordan.

São Paulo

In São Paulo, the municipality shared their exemplary work to integrate the perspectives of young children and caregivers into urban planning, programmes and services. There was significant excitement when learning about the ‘Bebeteca’ (baby libraries) concept, with the head of Irbid’s early childhood development unit eager to replicate the model in Jordan.

Jundiaí

Jundiaí inspired the Jordan delegation to reimagine urban landscapes. Jundiaí’s public space innovations include its ‘Children’s Factory’ and ‘Children’s World Park’, both of which transformed abandoned spaces into havens of exploration. This part of the leadership study tour left the delegation thinking about how to bring such transformation to life across Jordan’s urban landscapes.

The leadership study tour was a profound learning journey, as well as a unique opportunity to forge connections and share learning across continents. The Jordan delegation are now busy turning the insights into action, for their communities and country.

The Van Leer Foundation has been working in Brazil for more than 50 years. This has brought us a lot of learnings on how early childhood development policies can be implemented on the ground. This study tour was an opportunity for the Jordan delegation to learn more about how the policies are actually being implemented.

Claudia de Freitas Vidigal, Van Leer Brazil Representative

🎞️ Watch the video to learn more and discover the joys of the ‘Baby Spa’

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