Once the Early Childhood Development was adopted with a new focus of activity, the Maria Cecilia Souto Vidigal (FMCSV) Foundation felt the need to discuss the issue with those who were familiar with the local and international reality.
That's how the idea to hold an international workshop on child development emerged, to serve as a provider of knowledge for FMCSV and also as a producer of new knowledge and a stage for the exchange of experiences.
With this in mind, FMCSV held four workshops, increasing its audience at every new edition. In the fifth year, FMCSV realized that the new partnerships and the volume of people interested no longer fit into the workshop format and it chose to organize a larger-scale Symposium. So in 2011, FMCSV will hold a large International Symposium on Child Development, organized in partnership with major educational organizations - the Child Development Center of Harvard University, USP and Insper - that will discuss public investments in Early Childhood.
The central theme of the workshops has always been linked to some specific need defined by FMCSV’s mission. Thus, the First International Workshop on Childhood Development extensively discussed Early Childhood Development. In the second event, the assessment tools of the social programs for Early Childhood were the central theme because FMCSV had to define which criteria it was going to adopt to assess its own performance. The third meeting which dealt with Communication for Child Development was created because FMCSV was creating its own area of Communication. The Fourth Workshop discussed networks and partnerships for Child Development, and helped FMCSV to see the full potential of the networks and partnerships that it established and that it planned to establish. Lastly, the fifth event, that is no longer a workshop and has become a symposium, will discuss the importance of investing in Early Childhood to help FMCSV engage in public policy makers in defense of the Early Childhood cause.