November 2022 – ECDAN published an evidence review that aims to harness lessons learned from successes and failures in applying systems thinking across sectors and suggest potential ways for systems thinking to promote accelerated outcomes for young children. There have been longstanding challenges to promoting ECD at scale, including sustainability and equity, and systems approaches may provide unique advantages for the ecosystem.
The authoring team conducted an interdisciplinary systematic literature review and found five papers that met the inclusion criteria. They also interviewed 22 key informants from the ECD community as well as other sectors. These semi-structured interviews captured experiences and perspectives of systems thinking.
Based on the key findings from the literature review and interviews, the report proposes opportunities for practitioners, policymakers, funders, researchers, and other stakeholders to pursue.