Sensitive and responsive parenting in the first 1,000 days: Nurturing Empowerment, Support and Training (NEST)

Aim is strengthen the awareness, knowledge, and skills of health and social care professionals to support and empower sensitive and responsive parenting (SRP) in families.

Sensitive and responsive parenting in the first 1,000 days: Nurturing Empowerment, Support and Training (NEST)-project builds on WHO’s recommendation that all infants should receive responsive care during the first three years of life. Sensitive and responsive parenting (SRP) is the foundation of parent–infant mental health and a key factor in children’s social-emotional development. It benefits both children and parents, but is often under pressure in vulnerable families.
In 2023, 25% of children in the EU were at risk of poverty or social exclusion. Growing up in stressed or disadvantaged families negatively affects early childhood development. Yet, current training for professionals often lacks the urgency and tools to support SRP effectively in practice.

NEST addresses this gap by developing:

1. A ready-to-use toolbox for professionals to support SRP in everyday care.
2. A vocational education and training (VET) trajectory to build knowledge, skills, and self-awareness in SRP.
3. A social impact framework to evaluate and raise awareness of SRP interventions across Europe.

The project aims to strengthen the capacity of health and social care professionals to support and empower SRP in vulnerable families during the first 1,000 days of a child’s life. Target groups include midwives, public health nurses, and early family support services. Parents are engaged as experts by experience and central stakeholders in the project.

The project is coordinated by VIVES University of Applied Sciences (Belgium). The partners include CESIE (Italy) and FLVS (France) as non-governmental organizations, and higher education institutions Tampere University of Applied Sciences (TAMK) in Finland, Babe?-Bolyai University (UBB) in Romania, and Harokopio University (HUA) in Greece.
The project is funded by the Erasmus+ Cooperation Partnerships in Vocational Education and Training programme and will be implemented during the years 2025–2028.

Mari Laaksonen
mari.laaksonen [at] tuni.fi