The collaborative Núcleo Ciência Pela Infância (NCPI) has been highly successful in creating a science-driven early childhood movement in Brazil, most notably through training Brazilian policy makers on how to apply developmental science to inform programs and policies and launching the iLab Primeira Infância, one of the Latin American Innovation Clusters.
Brazil: Núcleo Ciência Pela Infância (NCPI)
This partnership includes the Center on the Developing Child, Fundação Maria Cecilia Souto Vidigal (FMCSV), the Medical School of the University of São Paulo, Insper, Sabará Children’s Hospital, and the David Rockefeller Center for Latin American Studies at Harvard. NCPI represents a model of collaborative work at the nexus of practice, policy, and research. Core program activities include the following:
- Building a Brazilian scientific community around early childhood development. NCPI is convening an interdisciplinary group of Brazilian scholars to guide the synthesis and application of scientific knowledge about child development to policymaking and practice in Brazil. It is also fostering collaboration among Harvard and Brazilian researchers, including publication of a working paper series (in Portuguese).
- Translating scientific knowledge for application to social policy. This includes working with the Center’s longtime partner organization, the Frameworks Institute, to communicate the science of child development within the Brazilian cultural context in the most effective ways.
- Strengthening leadership around early childhood development through an executive leadership course for policymakers.
- Launching the iLab Primeira Infância, one of the Latin American Innovation Clusters, to bring researchers, practitioners, and program developers together to co-design and test new strategies for addressing childhood issues in Brazil–and then to share their successes and failures.
- Translating and adapting the Center’s existing print and multimedia resources for a Brazilian audience.