The purpose of project PROSUS is to explore how children´s opportunities to lead a sustainable life can be strengthened by supporting sustainability work within ECEC. We are directing a special interest towards collegial development through learning processes where staff (regardless of educational background) can learn from and with each other.

One of the corner stones in the project is the development of the PROSUS tool for mapping sustainability related work in ECEC settings and for enhancing collegial reflection and discussion. The tool is the result of extensive revision of the OMEP ESD Rating Scale in order to fit the Finnish educational context. PROSUS was piloted in both Swedish and Finnish by teams in ECEC settings in various parts of Finland during 2019-2020. The digital version of the tool is published during late 2020.

In our research we document and explore the practical and pedagogical approaches to sustainability work that currently characterize ECEC in Finland. The project aims to identify and report on best practices which are firmly rooted in current Finnish legislation and educational policy as well as in contemporary theory and research within the realm of sustainability education in the early years.

The project is co-lead by Ann-Christin Furu at the Åbo Akademi University and Satu Valkonen at the University of Helsinki. We collaborate with the bachelor and master programs of ECEC teacher education and the practice settings linked to both universities.