Could It Be Otherwise? grant

The grant for innovative experiments and projects in early childhood education

 

Early childhood education (ECEC) centers, parents' committees, artists, operators in the cultural field and working groups can apply for the Could it be otherwise? grant. The amount of the grant is 4,000 euros and it can be awarded to one or more applicants.

 

The grant can be applied for experiments or projects with the following criteria:

Child-oriented A new type of children's engagement is created and promoted in the operating culture of early childhood education and the development of ECEC centers as children's place

Culture and play at the centre Testing and creating new operating methods and strengthening children's engagement in the production of culture with possible partners

Working together Creating a new activity and strengthening the connection between daycare centres and local communities to promote local democracy, community, and diversity. Let's expand ECEC centres as operators into a communal place for families, children, and residents to experience and do things

 

Application instructions

The application period is ongoing from March 1st to March 31st.

You can find the application form here:

Could It Be Otherwise? grant application form as a word file: in Finnish (FIN), in Swedish (SWE), In English (ENG)

Could It Be Otherwise? grant application form as a pdf file: in Finnish (FIN), in Swedish (SWE), In English (ENG)

Grant applications are sent to the Ebeneser Foundation at the discretion of the applicant (Ebeneser Foundation Taina Sillanpää, Helsinginkatu 3-5, 00500 Helsinki) as a registered letter / with a basic fee OR by a proteceted email / a regular email (taina.sillanpaa(at)ebeneser.fi). The recipient's email is protected. In connection with the application form, we only ask for the most necessary personal information. You can read the privacy statement related to the Ebeneser foundation's grants here (in Finnish).

Based on the applications sent within the application period, the board of the Ebeneser Foundation selects the grant recipient or recipients. The recipient will be notified of the decision in May of the same year at the latest.

The grant recipient must submit a written and pictorial report on the project and its effects within one year of receiving the grant. The experiments and their progress are reported on the Ebeneser foundation's website. The grantee is offered the opportunity to share their experiences from the experiment at the foundation's events and on the blog. The grant recipient is also given the opportunity to influence the next choice.

 

Background of the grant

The founder of the grant is the Association of Free school experiment support (in Finnish Vapaan koulukokeilun kannatusyhdistys ry.). The association is a founder of the daycare centre Pakilan Lastenpaikka, which did pioneering work in the early childhood education field and its development from 1970 to 2017. The association founded Pakilan Lastenpaikka as there was a need to develop teaching and education methods while listening to a child, based on the ideology of A.S.Neill's Summerhill idealogy of free education.

Over the decades, Pakilan Lastenpaikka implemented communal, child-oriented, culture- and play-filled early childhood education in cooperation with families. Lack of urgency, openness, creative flexibility and working together were the cornerstones of the operation. In 2017, Pakilan Lastenpaikka began to operate under the city of Helsinki.

 

Recipients of the grant from previous years

Kuusamo Cultural Department – Nature experiences through art – New forms of cultural activity expressed by children (year 2024, 4 000 €)
Kuusamo's cultural department offers the opportunity to participate in the Nature experiences through art -project for all early childhood education centers in Kuusamo. The implementation forms of the project include nature-related workshops and nature-themed presentations and it will be implemented as part of the Kuusamo Nature Photo festival in September 2024 at Kuusamotalo. The goal is to create a permanent operating model where children's participation in the nature photography event would be rooted as an annual part of the cultural offering. The project is coordinated by Kuusamo's cultural department and region's early childhood education centers, Art Association Koillinen and Kuusamo's music school act as partners.

Ruotsalo ECEC center – I can create and play music! (year 2023, 4 000 €)
In the project of Ruosalo ECEC center in Kokkola, the goal is to offer multi-sensory and inclusive musical experiences by developing spaces and environments that support music-making. The possibility of musical experiences is also extended to the outdoor space. Culture Cooperative Uulu acts as the project's expert in musical instrument building and community design workshops. The project also involves collaboration with music pedagogy students from Centria University of Applied Sciences. You can follow the project from Ruotsalon soi -account on Instagram.

Turunlahden sanaversomo – See you at the word art exhibition material package (year 2022, 4 000 €)
Jenni Turunlahti, word art teacher at Turunlahti Sanaversomo, and community pedagogue Minttu Turunlahti, in collaboration with four early childhood education units located in Southwest Finland, realized a replicable model and instructional material for producing ECEC centers' own word art exhibition. The main goal of the project was to make the methods and benefits of word art education familiar and usable in the early childhood education environment. The material guiding the production of the word art exhibition was published for to download electronically. The word art material can be downloaded from the website of Turunlahti Sanaversomo.

Lekkerberg's Singing Village – Let's make our own instruments and follow Lekkerberg's Singing Village (year 2021, 4 000 €)
In the Lekkerberg's Singing Village -children's music orchestra (in Finnish Lekkerbergin Laulava Kylä) project, they wanted to help the development of children's self-directed relationship with music. With the help of the grant, the orchestra brought culture and play to children through making instruments and playing together. The project was implemented in cooperation with pilot kindergartens. The stimulation materials produced in the project are publicly available on the orchestra's YouTube and social media channels.

ECEC centers, schools, home school activities, 4H and village association and garden actives in Ylikiiminki area
– The whole village cultivates, a communal kitchen garden (year 2020, 4 000 €)
A project containing a unique and natural cooperation model of ECEC centers, schools, 4H association, village associations and garden actives in the Ylikiiminki area. Kitchen gardens were built in connection with ECEC centers and schools. In the garden, children can explore, learn natural sciences, express and play with the miracle of growth. The goal of the project was to improve the conditions for interdisciplinary learning, with the focus on children's participation and child-orientation. The goal was also to promote the village's joint hobby opportunities and increase communal learning. A common kitchen garden promotes community learning and creates a sense of togetherness. Children get to meet across group divisions. With cooperation, the kitchen gardens can be maintained even during the holidays when ECEC centers and schools are closed.

Kutala ECEC center – From laboratory to ECEC center (year 2019, 2 000 €)
A joint project of Kutala ECEC center in Hämeenlinna, Häme University of Applied Sciences, and the students of the Aimo school for developing a learning environment. The goal was to create a multisensory space in cooperation with children, parents and students, which, in addition to the ECEC center, can be used by operators in the surrounding area. The project was documented as part of the pedagogical assessment in the ECEC center, as theses done by the students, and through Hämeenlinna's early childhood educations own blog "Satakielen siivin".

Vironniemi ECEC center
"I have something to say" – What is freedom of speech for a child and how do we get children to use their right (year 2019, 2 000 €)
A joint project of ECEC center Vironniemi in Helsinki and the support association operating there, as well as artists. The goal of the project was the child's right to express themself in different ways, for example in rap and poster workshops aimed at children. The goal was to increase listening to the child, interest in their thinking and respect for it. Philosophy workshops were organized for parents and ECEC center staff, the aim of which was to improve conversational skills with the idea "Let's talk with the child, not to the child". The project culminated in a joint celebration held at library Oodi.