More than spaces: Creating universal child care in Norway

An important part of the Norwegian context in the development of ELCC is the emphasis placed on the intrinsic value of childhood and the rights of children in society. [...] The principles of children’s right to partici pate (right to be heard), and the principle of the best interest of the child are contained in the UN Convention of the Rights of the Child and are a fundamental part of the Kindergarten Act and the Framework Plan for the Content and Tasks of Kindergartens. [...] In 2002, Kristen Halvorsen1, a member of the Socialist Left party, built an unlikely coalition of the Socialist Left Party, the Labour Party, the Centre Party, and the right wing Progress Party, and set out to reform the financing of barnehager. [...] In 2006, responsibility for barnehager was transferred from the Minis try of Children and Family Affairs to the Ministry of Education and Research to recognize it as the first step in lifelong learning and to create better coherence between barnehager and primary school. [...] In a 2020 interview, Øystein Djupedal, one of the architects of the 2003 Kindergarten Agreement and the then deputy leader of the of the Socialist Left Party, stated that: At the time, non-profit foundations and organizations ran the existing private kindergartens, and I did not have the imagination to understand that the kindergarten field would be taken over to such an extent by commercial provi.