THE FIRST public viewing of a groundbreaking document aiming to influence childhood development in the UK will take place in Winchester.

The launch conference for Early Childhood Action (ECA) will be held at Winchester University on October 27, when speakers will challenge 'the fashionable culture which forces children to grow up too soon'.

Unhurried Pathways - Towards a New Paradigm for Early Childhood, will feature experts such as Dr Penelope Leach, author of Your Baby and Child, emeritus professor of child psychology and psychobiology Colwyn Trevarthen, and Sue Palmer, author of Toxic Childhood.

Dr Richard House, senior lecturer in Early Childhood Studies at the university and a member of ECA, said: “A key aspect of ECA's approach is to support early years practitioners in becoming autonomous professionals who are sensitive and attuned to the unique needs of each child. It also aims to highlight the social, cultural and political contexts of practitioners' work and to put children's well-being before political ideology or the latest policy-making fashions.”

The keynote address will be given by acclaimed professor of physiology, Baroness Susan Greenfield.

Unhurried Pathways will take place on Saturday, October 27 at The Stripe, University of Winchester, Sparkford Road. For further details visit the ECA website.