The Center for Indigenous Health is proud to announce its selection as one of 10 finalists in the LEGO Foundation Build a World of Play challenge, chosen among 627 eligible applications from 86 countries, evaluated by multi-disciplined experts from across the world based on four criteria: whether they were impactful, feasible, community-centered, and sustainable.
The LEGO Foundation launched the challenge to fund bold and impactful solutions focused on early childhood and to spark a global movement to prioritize early childhood development.
The project is conceived to build a world of play for Indigenous children 0 to 6 years old and foster wellbeing for their families by sharing and culturally adapting the Center’s evidence-based Indigenous-designed Family Spirit® home-visiting program. In addition, participating Indigenous communities will also receive support to design and build nature-based intergenerational play spaces to promote play and positive cultural identity for young children and extended family members.
The Center is proud to be working with three global Indigenous partners in this endeavor: Te Rōpū Rangahau Hauora a Eru Pōmare/The Eru Pōmare Māori Health Health Research Centre at University of Otago (New Zealand), First Nations Health Authority (Canada), and Batchelor Institute of Indigenous Tertiary Education (Australia). As a finalist, the Center is receiving a $1 million planning grant to strengthen its proposed plan, start building a team, and scale up to successfully implement its innovation.
In the next phase, the LEGO Foundation will select five Awardees from amongst the finalists: there will be three grants awarded for approximately $30 million each and two grants awarded for $15 million each. The grants reaffirm the LEGO Foundation’s commitment in the LEGO® brand’s 90th year to ensure children globally are given opportunities to learn through play.