Strengthening the Call for Intentional Intergenerational Programmes towards Sustainable Futures for Children and Families

Czarecah Tuppil Oropilla and Elin Eriksen Ødegaard
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Czarecah Tuppil Oropilla: KINDknow—Kindergarten Knowledge Centre for Systemic Research on Diversity and Sustainable Futures, Western Norway University of Applied Sciences, 5063 Bergen, Norway
Elin Eriksen Ødegaard: KINDknow—Kindergarten Knowledge Centre for Systemic Research on Diversity and Sustainable Futures, Western Norway University of Applied Sciences, 5063 Bergen, Norway

Sustainability, 2021, vol. 13, issue 10, 1-23

Abstract: As a response to the call for reimagining early childhood education for social sustainability in the future, this conceptual paper aims to suggest revisiting and strengthening the case to include intentional intergenerational engagements and programmes in kindergartens as approaches towards sustainable futures for children. In this paper, we argue that we must talk about intergenerational solidarity on all levels, including in early childhood education and care settings, and that it must be deliberate and by design. Learning from cultural–historical concepts and the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, intergenerational programmes in early years settings are to be presented as intentional initiatives and opportunities for interrelated and collaborating actors and institutions to bring younger children and older adults together. We present a conceptual framework that features conflicts and opportunities within overlapping and congruent spaces to understand conditions for various intergenerational practices and activities in different places, and to promote intergenerational dialogues, collaborations and shared knowledge, contributing to a relational and socially sustainable future for which we aim.

Keywords: intergenerational programmes; conceptual framework; early childhood; social sustainability; cultural–historical (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (3)

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