International Congress on Brain Sciences Early Childhood Care & Education

Transforming Early Childhood Care and Education through Neuroscience

Jointly organized by UNESCO and the Babilou Family Foundation, this congress brought together esteemed professionals, including neuroscientists, developmental psychologists, education practitioners, and policymakers, to exchange insights and advance our collective understanding. Together, we have explored critical questions about early brain development, the impact of environmental influences, and strategies to optimize cognitive, social, and emotional development in children.

AGENDA

Inaugural speech
9:30 - 11:00

Keynote
Dr. James Heckman, Nobel Prize-winning economist

Opening Ceremony
• Mrs. Stefania Giannini, Assistant Director-General for Education, UNESCO
• Mr. Christophe Fond, CEO Babilou Family & Babilou Family Foundation
• Mr. Xavier Ouvrard, VP Supervisory Board Babilou Family & Babilou Family Foundation

To catch-up the replay: https://youtu.be/x3fSHRbEN4k

Understanding how young children think and learn

Moderator:
• Dr. Ghislaine Dehaene-Lambertz, Director of childbrain institute

Speakers:
•    Dr. Elizabeth Spelke, Professor of Psychology, Harvard University
•    Dr. Stéphanie Mazza, Professor of Neuropsychology, INSPE Lyon 1 University
•    Dr. Marcela Pena, Pediatrician and Professor of Cognitive Sciences, Pontificia Universidad Católica, Chile

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Limiting inequalities in development and learning

Moderator:
• Dr. Grégoire Borst, Professor & Director of LaPsyDe Lab

Speakers:
•   Dr. Charles Nelson, Professor of Education and Pediatrics, Harvard University
•   Dr. Kathy Hirsh Pasek, Professor of Psychology, Temple University
•   Dr. Edward Melhuish, Professor of Developmental Psychology, University of Oxford

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The importance of the development of the executive functions

Moderator:
• Dr. Adele Diamond, Professor of Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience, University of Vancouver

Speakers:
•   Dr. Jelena Obradovic, Developmental Psychologist, Stanford University
•   Dr. Philip Zelazo, Developmental Psychologist and Neurologist, University of Minnesota
•   Dr. Claire Hughes, Developmental Psychologist, University of Cambridge

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A Knowledge Integration Group is set up for each round table.

It reflects as a group on the discussions, and at the end of each round table, offer their perspectives on actions that could be taken in the early education sector based on the round table discussions.

Closing plenary
17:40 - 18:30

• Mrs. Sridevi Raghavan, Co-President, Babilou Family Foundation
• Mr. Borhene Chakroun, Director, Division for Lifelong Learning Policies and Systems, UNESCO

To catch-up the replay: https://youtu.be/yQO9ElX2i6c

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The speakers

Doctor James HECKMAN

Nobel-Prize Winning Economist

Nobel Memorial Prize winner in economics, he is an expert in the economics of human development. Through the university’s Center for the Economics of Human Development, he has conducted groundbreaking work with a consortium of economists, developmental psychologists, sociologists, statisticians and neuroscientists showing that quality early childhood development heavily influences health, economic and social outcomes for individuals and society at large. Heckman has shown that there are great economic gains to be had by investing in early childhood development..

Doctor Adele DIAMOND

Canada Research Chair Professor of Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience

A leader in two fields, psychology and neuroscience, Adele cofounded the flourishing interdisciplinary field of “developmental cognitive neuroscience.”
Her specialty is the rigorous study of executive functions especially in children. She’s been doing that for over 40 years. Adele studies how EFs are affected by biological factors and by environmental ones.
Her discoveries have thrice changed international medical guidelines for the treatment of diseases and have had a significant impact on educational practice worldwide, improving millions of children’s lives.

Doctor Ghislaine DEHAENE-LAMBERTZ

Director of the Developmental Neuroimaging Lab, CNRS, CEA

Pediatrician, director of the Robert Debré Child Brain Institute (Paris, France) and of the developmental brain imaging lab, Ghislaine Dehaene and her team investigate the development of cognitive functions in infants and children using brain imaging techniques. Their goal is to understand how complex cognitive functions, such as language, music, mathematics, etc… emerge in the human brain, thanks to a thorough description of the brain initial structural and functional organization.

Doctor Grégoire BORST

Professor of Child Psychology, University Paris Cité

Grégoire Borst is a Professor of Developmental Psychology and Cognitive Neuroscience of Education and the Director of the Child Development and Education Psychology Laboratory (CNRS) at Lyon 1 University. He obtained his Ph.D. in 2005 from the University of Paris-Sud and joined LaPsyDÉ in 2010 after 4 years as a postdoctoral fellow at Harvard University. His research focuses on the role of high-level cognitive functions (metacognition, planning, resistance to automaticity, emotional regulation) in cognitive and socio-emotional development, as well as in academic learning in children, adolescents, and young adults, combining behavioral and neuroimaging approaches (EEG, NIRS, MRI).

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Practical information

Date: September, 26th

Place: UNESCO HQ
Entrance: 125 avenue de Suffren, 75007 Paris
FRANCE

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