April 9, 2025 – Hernán Marisquirena Molina, a Knowledge Fellow in the 2024 cohort, completed his project titled Early Childhood Development and Climate Services: Understanding Synergies and Entry Points for Integration. This report introduces Climate Services (CS) to early childhood development (ECD) practitioners and policymakers. It proposes practical insights and tools for integrating ECD into CS. It is intended for use by ECD practitioners, as well as climate and ECD policymakers.
The project was structured around the following key research questions:
- How does the Climate Services ecosystem work, and what are the main entry points for ECD to effectively take part in climate services efforts?
- What are relevant examples of initiatives working around Climate Services that could have/can draw synergies with ECD?
- What lessons learned from the Climate Services sector could enhance the effectiveness of ECD initiatives?
- How do those specific Climate Services initiatives work, and which are the entry points ECD could have in the development process of those specific initiatives, if they were to be redefined?
The report describes the CS value chain, key stakeholders, data applications, and funding landscape, building a case on why and how to integrate ECD into CS. It highlights transdisciplinarity as a vital tool for collaboration and concludes with strategic entry points for ECD stakeholders and objectives within the CS ecosystem. In this context, “entry points” refers to aligned and/or complementing aims, expertise, or institutional/systems processes that are compelling opportunities for integrating a focus on young children within CS efforts.