THRIWE seminar

The THRIWE project, KINDknow research center (Barnkunne) and FLKI research program 4 invites to a half-day open research seminar on the 24th of September at Kronstad, Bergen.

Moving towards a Thriving Early Childhood Workforce (THRIWE) will conduct transdisciplinary research aiming to strengthen Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC) workforce health and well-being, build sustainable systems for ECEC quality and promote children’s holistic development. The project is part of the COMPASS Center of Excellence application HVL will submit to the Research Council of Norway 11th of November 2026. The aim of the seminar is to share knowledge and research across central fields informing the project.

Program

09.00-09.30   Introducing the THRIWE project (Eivind Aadland, Professor and primary investigator THRIWE, HVL)

09.30-10.00   The Hand-in-Hand project: promoting occupational health and ECEC quality through a healthy work environment (Suzanne Merkus, Researcher at the Norwegian Institute of Occupational Health, STAMI, Norway)

10.15-10.45   Holistic early childhood workforce well-being (Celene Domitrovich, Director of Research at Thrive Center for Children, Families and Communities & Professor at Department of Psychiatry, Georgetown University School of Medicine, USA)

10.45-11.15   Design-based research approaches in ECEC: Play, co-design and design principles (Helle Marie Skovbjerg, Professor and Head of Research at Lab for PlayDesign, Kolding School of Design, Denmark)

11.20-12.00   Questions and panel discussion