Advancing climate health in early childhood settings – a participatory approach

Background

Climate change poses a major threat to human health, particularly for vulnerable groups such as children. Early childhood education and care (ECEC) settings offer important opportunities to promote health equity in this context. Effective climate health promotion requires collaboration among relevant stakeholders. This project examines how organizational capacities, resources, and participatory approaches can be structured to enable effective and collective action in ECEC settings.

Methods

The project “Climate Health in ECEC Settings” (02/2025–01/2028), funded by the German Federal Ministry of Research, Technology and Space conducted at Magdeburg-Stendal University of Applied Sciences, is part of the “Climate Health in Living Environments” consortium. A mixed-methods design is used to investigate participatory strategies in selected ECEC centers in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. A systematic literature review and a survey assess the current situation. In participatory “climate circles,” stakeholders collaboratively develop, implement, and evaluate measures. Process evaluation includes expert interviews and focus groups to identify facilitators and barriers.

Results

The literature review shows that systematic climate health measures in ECEC settings remain limited. Key barriers include insufficient financial and human resources, as well as a lack of clear guidelines and information. Support needs primarily concern professional knowledge and advisory services. Qualitative findings help identify contextual conditions and action spaces of stakeholders and inform practical recommendations.

Conclusions

Achieving a cross-sectoral integration of climate health promotion in line with the “Health in All Policies” framework requires the provision of appropriate structural conditions and resources within everyday settings. Furthermore, inclusive and participatory decision-making processes involving all relevant stakeholders need to be actively strengthened.

Key messages

• Participatory approaches in ECEC settings can strengthen climate health promotion by enabling collaborative, context-specific solutions despite limited resources.

• Strengthening structures, resources, and cross-sector collaboration is essential to embed climate health promotion in line with a Health in All Policies approach.