Facts about NAVADA

The research project “Naturfaglig almendannelse i dagtilbud” (NAVADA) aims to strengthen the general scientific education of children aged 0‒6. The Novo Nordisk Foundation has granted 21.7 million DKK for the project, which spans a five-year period between 2023‒2028 and will lead to the establishment of a knowledge and education center at University College Copenhagen.

Ten daycare institutions from Copenhagen and Bornholm participate in the project. Together with the daycare professionals, the researchers will experiment with designing play and learning spaces that support the children’s scientific interests. The research methods are participant-inclusive and build on the daycare professionals’ own capabilities and perspectives.

Additionally, the NAVADA project contains two PhD projects in science education. One project explores what competencies and skills daycare professionals leverage when working with science education activities. The other project examines the mathematical dimension of science education and its significance for the general scientific education of children.

A third subproject of NAVADA investigates how to follow the development of children’s education in scientific play and learning spaces. This can either mean measuring specific effects or choosing existing methods of measurement for the daycare professionals to use as supportive tools in their practice. The methods of measurement could, e.g., target the children, the daycare professionals themselves, or the play and learning spaces.

The overall research project also works to develop a concept of certification for daycare institutions, so that municipalities that want daycare institutions with a special focus on nature and science can obtain certification through continuing education at University College Copenhagen.