Journal articles on the topic 'Instrument of Pre-accession Assistance (IPA)'

Portugal’s negotiations for accession to the European Economic Community (EEC) took place at the same time as the country negotiated and implemented the pre-accession aid programme that aimed at the development of the Portuguese economy. In a historical context where the concept of a pre-accession strategy did not officially exist as such, the EEC was already establishing the basis for the future Instrument for Pre-Accession Assistance (IPA) which similarly aimed at preparing candidates to fulfil their obligations as member states. Taking stock of the existing literature on enlargement and benefiting from further archive research, this article aims to analyse how the granting of pre-accession aid was negotiated between the EEC and Portugal and to make a concise assessment of its implementation in the country.

During the process of enlargement, the European Union established a mechanism to develop institutions and to support transition process in the EU, through financial help, for potential candidates and candidate countries. This foreign aid is operating throughout different EU funds. The instrument for the pre-accession assistance (IPA) has replaced all other financial funds for the budget period 2007–2013. The aim of this article is to give suggestions for a more efficient use of IPA funds. The article presents a case of Serbia by showing the empirical results from a questionnaire survey of 108 organizations evaluating a range of issues. A model of IPA funds’ use has been created. Risk points have been determined and divided into three groups: informing of potential beneficiaries, their education, and assistance in the realization of all project phases. Improvement could be achieved through the implementation of a new idea for setting up “project centres” which would support the process. Thus, civil society would be involved into the monitoring system.

The problem of this research is how the European Union is a regional organization that is in the European region, has a policy of enlargement, which is a policy where the EU is trying to expand the area of cooperation to do so will be more extensive. Balkan region did not escape the attention of Europe. for this region, the European Union issued a Stabilisation and Association Process (SAP) which merupaka a policy that contains the promise of the EU to the Western Balkan countries for the opportunity to become a member. That's why Kosovo had finally become part of the SAP. After becoming a part of SAP, Kosovo received assistance from the EU as a potential candidate candidate. Program assistance provided by the EU is the IPA program which is a program set up to create a single framework to assist candidate countries and potential countries to join the EU premises. Through this IPA, the EU provides financial assistance to Kosovo to build its economy. This type of research is qualitative. The method used is descriptive analysis techniques. Most of the data collected through literature, as well as the search website. The results of this study indicate that the funds provided by the European Union through the IPA program provided through economy of Kosovo has been quite successful with demonstrated through improvements to the economy of Kosovo, the provision of this assistance has resulted in significant improvements in economic growth and development of Kosovo.

Abstract After four years of implementation the EU funds for candidate countries, the Instrument for Pre- Accession Assistance (IPA), has shown a mixed performance, resulting in a statistically limited level of use of IPA funds in most target countries, though with some variance. This article intends to test the hypothesis linking such a differentiation with the presence or absence of the official status of candidate country. The analysis of the funds allocation levels, the funds absorption levels and the progress in administrative reforms nevertheless shows that candidacy status is neither a sufficient nor a necessary condition for a good IPA performance. Rather, the data show that the IPA funds were able to catalyse a good progress only in those target countries characterised by an average adaptation pressure, but not to spur laggards and frontrunners, recalling the hypothesis put forward by Radaelli in his analysis of the outcomes of Europeanisation.

Instrument of Pre-Accession programme assistance of European Union applies since 2007 in the Western Balkan countries and aims at preparing successfully the relevant countries for future EU integration. Albania benefits from IPA funds which plays a key role in the development of the administrative capacities of the Western Balkans countries. By strengthening the administrative capacities of these countries, IPA will enable them to take over the funds, the program management and ultimately the overall integration process. Preparing to profit from and ultimately manage IPA funds allows beneficiaries countries, for future efficient management of the so-called Structural and Cohesion Funds that Member States receive to better integrate their poorer regions and infrastructure. This study aims at identifying the value and complexity of such process concluding with the efforts and challenges in the near future toward being a fully fledged member of European Union. It is of great importance the way how Albania absorbs these funds. In this regard, i will assess the process of indirect management of IPA funds in Albania taking into consideration their actual status. In conclusion, this study is very important for the fact it gives a consolidated assessment of the challenges, needs and relative importance of transferring all management aspects of European Union financial assistance to the beneficiaries countries which will further strengthen the complementarily of the accession process and overall national development policies. Also, it will provide recommendation for strengthening administrative capacity and preparing national and local structures and authorities to plan and implement such programmes remain major challenges which the enlargement countries need to address rigorously from an early stage of the process.

The essay discusses the socio-political challenges for the economy of Bosnia and Herzegovina and its foreign trade in goods and services, including the Hungarian relation. The study uses descriptive tools and secondary data. Wedged in between Croatia and Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina’s economy is inextricably linked to the dramatic events of the past and the still unresolved social and political conflicts. Within Yugoslavia, Bosnia and Herzegovina was a member state with significant export potential, but the war and ethnicisation have devastated the economy. The state administration of the Dayton system is expensive, and the foundations for capital flows, privatisation and European convergence are developing slowly. Capital flows, the Instrument for Pre-accession Assistance (IPA) and international aid play an important role in balancing the foreign exchange balance. A significant item reducing the negative current account balance is the amount of remittances, which is six times higher than FDI. Remittances have become the largest source of external financing, increasing dependency and exacerbating the vulnerability of the economy.

European Union (EU) uses The Instrument for Pre-accession Assistance (IPA) to prepare candidate and potential candidate countries for EU membership. One of the five components of IPA is rural development (IPARD). IPARD funds provide financing to develop production standards of agricultural establishments for competing with other establishments in EU member states. For this purpose, in Turkey IPARD I programme was applied between 2007 and 2013 and IPARD II programme was prepared to apply from 2014 to 2020. The purpose of this study is comparing structural differences of IPARD I and IPARD II programme which are important tools to increase competitiveness of agricultural establishments in Turkey. The main material of the study was IPARD I and IPARD II programs. In the study, firstly, the support given within the scope of IPARD programs were presented as tables and graphs. Structural differences between the two programmes were examined under three headings; targets of programmes, budgets of programmes and eligibility criteria. In the result of this study, changes and the actual statue of this important financial tool was revealed. Most important changes were public aid rates and new supporting sectors. Regarding to the public aid rates, while the highest rate was 65% in IPARD I, it is 70% in IPARD II. Also an additional 10% can be given for investments in effluent storage and waste management for benefit of the environment in IPARD II. In IPARD II; egg production, mushroom cultivation, machinery parks and renewable energy plants sectors are added to supporting sectors.

The EU Flood Directive states that flood risk management plans should focus on prediction, prevention, protection and preparedness. The legal framework of flood management in all countries of Western Balkan is aligned with the EU Flood Directive. Based on the Strategy for Water Management in the Republic of Serbia up to 2034, sector reforms will be implemented in order to achieve the necessary standards in water management. Structural measures (construction of flood defenses). Structural measures identified as “non-regret” in the Action Plan will be implemented through the EU Instrument for pre-accession assistance. The existing system of protection in the Republic of Serbia relies primarily on passive measures. In spite of such important infrastructure facilities, the concept of the fight against floods has proved to be unsustainable in recent times. Whereas the meteorological and hydrological conditions cannot be controlled early warning, preparedness and flood forecasts are essential to reduce the damages of flooding.

The purpose of this study is to compare innovative technology usage levels of dairy farms, supported and non-supported by The Instrument for Pre-accession Assistance-Rural Development (IPARD) program, by scoring their usage level of 10 innovative technologies in their dairy farms. Another purpose of the study is to determine the factors associated with the innovative technology usage levels of dairy farms. The main material of the study is dairy farms supported and not supported by the IPARD program in Konya. Full count sampling method was used when determining the dairy farms supported by IPARD Program and Neyman allocation sampling method was used when determining the dairy farm non-supported by IPARD program. Research data were collected from 50 dairy farms supported by IPARD program and 100 dairy farms non-supported by IPARD program by administering a questionnaire filled during the face-to-face interviews conducted with each individual respondent. As a result of the study, it was determined that the average gross production values and gross profits of dairy farms supported by IPARD program were 4 times higher than those non-supported by IPARD program. While innovative technology usage level of dairy farms non-supported by IPARD program were entirely low level, 90% of dairy farms supported by IPARD program were high level. From the point of view of dairy farm scale, it was determined that innovative technology usage levels were high (69.84%) in dairy farms that had 51 and more milking cows. As a result of chi-square independence test, statistically significant relationship was found between innovative technology usage level of dairy farm and 12 of 13 factors.

In Bosnia and Herzegovina some rural municipalities with similar population density are very different regarding key demographic and economic indicators like migration, unemployment and average wages. According to the existing studies in Europe the answer for differential economic performance is firstly in the potential of local community to recognize, strengthen and utilize less mobile assets in the form of economic, social, cultural and natural capital. Secondly, researchers point to the synergy between those assets and external networking and using information and communications technology in reaching new markets and resources. Understanding the reasons for differential economic performance and more or less competitiveness in rural areas of Bosnia and Herzegovina could thus be a key element in devising practical strategies and programs for sustainable rural development. This could also contribute to the programming of Instrument for Pre-Accession Assistance for Rural Development of Bosnia and Herzegovina in the future. The aim of the study is by comparing the most and least developed rural municipalities to investigate the reasons for the differences in economic performance, in particular, to investigate the role of capitals or tangible and less tangible factors influencing development outcomes. In order to achieve that, the authors have chosen high and low performing municipalities according to the criteria of population density, rurality and proximity to large city. In order to have more clear picture, community profiling is conducted and data was collected by surveying community stakeholders. The analysis showed that in high performing municipality all capitals are accessible and properly utilized with space for improvement while low performing municipality has many problems and higher need for change and new strategy of development.

Instrument za prepistupnu pomoć (eng. IPA - Instrument for Pre-Accession Assistance), uspostavljen je Uredbom Evropskog savjeta, jula 2006. godine. Na taj način je Evropska komisija uspostavila jedinstveni instrument za prepristupnu pomoć zemljama u procesu evropskih integracija,, koji je objedinio dotadašnje prepristupne instrumente: PHARE, SAPARD, ISPA, CARDS, kao i prepristupni intrument za Tursku. Decentralizovano upravljanje fondovima, DIS (eng. Decentralised Imlementation System), jeste sistem u kome Evropska komisija prenosi upravljanje određenim aktivnostima na zemlju korisnicu, pri čemu zadržava cjelokupnu konačnu odgovornost za izvršenje budžeta EU. Aktivnosti koje se prenose na zemlju korisnicu, trebalo bi minimalno da obuhvataju tenderske procedure, zaključivanje ugovora i plaćanja.

Prije ulaska u Europsku uniju ključno je stvoriti interne kapacitete kojima jeosnovni cilj iskorištavanje financijskih i poslovnih prilika koje se otvaraju kroz EUfondove. Svaka država koja je na putu prema članstvu u Europsku uniju od trenutkapotpisivanja ugovora o pristupanju ima mogućnosti dobiti financijsko-tehničkupomoć od Europske unije. Na taj način joj se želi olakšati proces pridruživanja. To seostvaruje pretpristupnim fondovima, čija je ključna uloga smanjenje gospodarskih isocijalnih razlika na zajedničkom europskom području. Pored toga, pretpristupnifondovi bi trebali pomoći državama brži i djelotvorniji rast i razvitak, olakšatiprivlačenje novih investicija, povećati izvoz, smanjiti zaduženost, itd. Iskustva uiskorištavanju predpristupnih fondova pružaju drugim državama dobru podlogu ipriliku da se na vrijeme pripreme i za ostale instrumente regionalne politike u kojimaće ravnopravno sudjelovati kada postanu punopravne države članice Europske unije.Cilj rada je na konkretnom primjeru izrađenog i odobrenog projekta u sklopu IPA IVmodela koji se financira sredstvima Europske unije prikazati tok najvažnijihkomponenti projekta te način kako se najvažnije komponente povezuju u jedanzajednički projekt koji ima preduvjete da bude prihvaćen od strane Europskekomisije. Projekt je rađen za područje obrazovanja i to naglasak na povezivanjuformalnog i neformalnog obrazovanja sa radom u praksi. // Before entering the European Union it is essential to create internal capacitywhich the main objective is the utilization of financial and business opportunitiesarising through EU funds. Each country which is on the path to membership in theEuropean Union since the signing the Accession Treaty has the possibility to getfinancial and technical assistance from the European Union. In this way, it simplifiesthe process of accession. This is accomplished by pre-accession funds, whose key roleis reducing economic and social disparities in the European Common Area. Inaddition, pre-accession funds should help countries faster and more efficient growthand development, to facilitate attraction of new investment, increase exports, reducedebt, etc. Experiences in using pre-accession funds provide a good basis to othercountries and the opportunity to prepare in time for the other instruments of regionalpolicy in which they will participate equally when they become full members of theEuropean Union. The aim of this paper is on a concrete example, created andapproved project under IPA IV model, which is financed by European Union fundsshow the flow of the most important components of the project and the way how themost important components are connected in joint project that has the prerequisites tobe accepted by the European Commission.

Instruments for Pre-Accession Assistance (IPA) are one of the most important instruments fo EU development and regional policy avaliable to the candidate countries for EU accession. Enlargement of EU can cause, what already can be seen, considerable problems. Especially when the level of economic development is lower in some new member states and candidate countries than in “ old “ EU member states. Amon these countries are also western Balkan countries which use IPA funds (IPA I and IPA II) to solve problems caused by lack of money on national, regional nad city level as well as for the citizens. The aim of this paperwork is to explain what the European Commission has done by analyzing experiences in the utilizing IPA I funds. In the paper work we try to explain the new conditions, beside indispensable Stabilisation and Association Agreement, for programming and absorbing IPA funds that should increase impacts of financial and technical support for achievement of reform goals, particulary emphasising EU 2020 Strategy for smart, suinstable and inclusive development.

The European Commission (EC) regulation no. 854/2004 requires a systematic monitoring of chemical and microbiological contaminants in live bivalve molluscs, live echinoderms, live tunicates and live marine gastropods for human consumption through surveillance plans to be implemented in all European Union (EU) countries.A consortium of five Adriatic countries was set up in the framework of the Instrument of Pre-accession Assistance Adriatic Cross-border Cooperation Programme (IPA Adriatic CBC) 2007- 2013 with the aim of collecting data and distribute information on harvesting and production in mollusc areas. A web-based geographical information system (GIS) application was developed to support the partners to manage data and to make these data available to final users, policy makers and to risk assessors. The GIS for the Strengthening of Centres for Aquaculture Production and Safety surveillance in the Adriatic countries (CAPS2) is divided into two levels, the national and the supranational one, and it distributes spatial and epidemiological information coming from various data acquisition and management sites. The great innovation is the possibility for each country to use online drawing, modifying and change of the geographic areas according to national surveillance needs. Currently it hosts data coming from about 230 production and relay areas with more than 29,478 laboratory tests performed on collected samples since August 2014. Data collected are used by each national competent authority to classify production or relay areas according to the EC regulation mentioned and to conduct risk assessment studies to evaluate the level of consumers’ exposure to contaminants in the consumption of bivalve mollusc products.

Introduction Children are beginning to use digital technologies at younger and younger ages. The emerging trend of very young children (babies, toddlers and pre-schoolers) using Internet connected devices, especially touch screen tablets and smartphones, has elicited polarising opinions from early childhood experts. At present there is little actual research about the risks or benefits of tablet and smartphone use by very young children. Current usage recommendations, based on research into passive television watching which claims that screen time is detrimental, is in conflict with advice from education experts and app developers who commend interactive screen time as engaging and educational. Guidelines from the health professions typically advise strict time limits on very young children’s screen-time. Based for the most part on policy developed by the American Academy of Paediatrics, it is usually recommended that children under two have no screen time at all (Brown), and children over this age have no more than two hours a day (Strasburger, et al.). On the other hand, early childhood education guidelines promote the development of digital literacy skills (Department of Education). Further, education-based research indicates that access to computers and the Internet in the preschool years is associated with overall educational achievement (Bittman et al.; Cavanaugh et al; Judge et al; Neumann). The US based National Association for Education of Young Children’s position statement on technology for zero to eight year-olds declares that “when used intentionally and appropriately, technology and interactive media are effective tools to support learning and development” (NAEYC). This article discusses the notion of Digitods—a name for those children born since the introduction of the iPhone in 2007 who have ready access to touchscreen technologies since birth. It reports on the limited availability of evidence-based research about these children’s ICT use concluding that current research and recommendations are not grounded in the everyday life of very young children and their families. The article then reports on the beginnings of a research project funded by the Australian Research Council entitled Toddlers and Tablets: exploring the risks and benefits 0-5s face online. This research project recognises that at this stage it is parents who “are the real experts in their toddlers’ use of screen technologies. Accordingly, the project’s methodological approach draws on parents, pre-schoolers and their families as communities of practice in the construction of social meaning around toddlers’ use of touch screen technology. Digitods In 2000 Bill Gates introduced the notion of Generation I to describe the first cohort of children raised with the Internet as a reality in their lives. They are those born after the 1990s and will, in most cases; have no memory of life without the Net. [...] Generation I will be able to conceive of the Internet’s possibilities far more profoundly than we can today. This new generation will become agents of change as the limits of the Internet expand to include educational, scientific, and business applications that we cannot even imagine. (Gates)Digitods, on the other hand, is a term that has been used in education literature (Leathers et al.) to describe those children born after the introduction of the iPhone in 2007. These children often begin their lives with ready access to the Internet via easily usable touch screen devices, which could have been designed with toddlers’ touch and swipe movements in mind. Not only are they the youngest group of children to actively engage with the Internet they are the first group to grow up with a range of mobile Internet devices (Leathers et al.). The difference between Digitods and Gates’s Generation I is that Digitods are the first pre-verbal, non-ambulant infants to have ready access to digital technologies. Somewhere around the age of 10 months to fourteen months a baby learns to point with his or her forefinger. At this stage the child is ready to swipe and tap a touch screen (Leathers et al.). This is in contrast to laptops and PCs given that very young children often need assistance to use a mouse or keyboard. The mobility of touch screen devices allows very young children to play at the kitchen table, in the bedroom or on a car trip. These mobile devices have, of course, a myriad of mobile apps to go with them. These apps create an immediacy of access for infants and pre-schoolers who do not need to open a web browser to find their favourite sites. In the lives of these children it seems that it has always been possible to touch and swipe their way into games, books and creative and communicative experiences (Holloway et al. 149). The interactivity of most pre-school apps, as opposed to more passive screen activities such as watching television shows or videos (both offline or online), requires toddlers and pre-schoolers to pay careful attention, think about things and act purposefully (Leathers et al.). It is this interactivity which is the main point of difference, one which holds the potential to engage and educate our youngest children. It should be noted within this discussion about Digitods that, while the trope Digital Natives tends to homogenise an entire generation, the authors do not assume that all children born today are Digitods by default. Many children do not have the same privileged opportunities as others, or the (parental) cultural capital, to enable access, ease of use and digital skill development. In addition to this it is not implied that Digitods will be more tech savvy than their older siblings. The term is used more to describe and distinguish those children who have digital access almost since birth—in order to differentiate or tease out everyday family practices around these children’s ICT use and the possible risks and benefits this access affords babies, toddlers and pre-schoolers. While the term Digital Native has also been criticised as being a white middle class phenomenon this is not necessarily the case with Digitods. In the Southeast Asia and the Pacific region developed countries like Japan, Korea, New Zealand and Singapore have extremely high rates of touchscreen use by very young children (Child Sciences; Jie; Goh; Unantenne). Other countries such as the Philippines and Indonesia have moved to a high smart phone usage by very young children while at the same time have only nascent ICT access and instruction within their education systems (Unantenne). The Digitod Parent Parents of Digitods are usually experienced Internet users themselves, and many are comfortable with their children using these child-friendly touch screen devices (Findahl). Digital technologies are integral to their everyday lives, often making daily life easier and improving communication with family and friends, even during the high pressure parenting years of raising toddlers and pre-schoolers. Even though many parents and caregivers are enabling very young children’s use of touch screen technologies, they are also concerned about the changes they are making. This is because very young children’s use of touch screen devices “has become another area where they fear possible criticism and in which their parental practices risk negative evaluation by others” (Holloway et al). The tensions between expert advice regarding young children’s screen-time and parents’ and caregivers’ own judgments are also being played out online. Parenting blogs, online magazines and discussion groups are all joining in the debate: On the one hand, parents want their children to swim expertly in the digital stream that they will have to navigate all their lives; on the other hand, they fear that too much digital media, too early, will sink them. Parents end up treating tablets like precision surgical instruments, gadgets that might perform miracles for their child’s IQ and help him win some nifty robotics competition—but only if they are used just so. (Rosin)Thus, with over 80 000 children’s apps marketed as educational in the Apple App Store alone, parents can find it difficult to choose apps that are worth purchasing (Yelland). Nonetheless, recent research regarding Australian children shows that three to five year olds who access touch screen devices will typically have five or more specific apps to choose from (5.23 on average) (Neumann). With little credible evidence or considered debate, parents have been left to make their own choices about the pros and cons of their young children’s access to touch screens. Nonetheless, one immediate benefit that comes to mind is toddlers and pre-schoolers video chatting with dispersed family member—due to increased globalisation, guest worker arrangements, FIFO (fly-in fly-out) workforces and family separation or divorce. Such clear benefits around sociability and youngsters’ connection with significant others make previous screen-related guidelines out of date and no longer contextually relevant. Little Research Attention Family ownership of tablet devices as well as touch screen phones has risen dramatically in the last five years. With very young children being loaned these technologies by mum or dad, and a tendency in Australia to rely on market-orientated research regarding ownership and usage, there is very little knowledge about touch screen usage rates for very young Australian children. UK and US usage figures indicate that over the last few years there has been a five-fold increase in tablet uptake by zero to eight year olds (Ofcom; Rideout). Although large scale, comparative Australian data is not available, previous research regarding older children indicates that Australia is similar to high use countries like some Scandinavian nations and the UK (Green et al.). In addition to this, two small research projects in Australia, with under 160 participant families each, indicate that two thirds of these children (0-5) use touchscreen devices (Neumann; Coenenna et. al.). Beyond usage figures, there is also very limited evidence-based research about very young children’s app use. Interactive technologies available via touch screen technologies have been available domestically for a very short time. Consequently, “valid scientific research has not been completed and replicated due to [the lack of] available time” (Leathers el al. 129) and longitudinal studies which rely on an intervention group (in this case exposure to children’s apps) and a control group (no exposure) are even fewer and more time-consuming. Interestingly, researchers have revisited the issue of passive screen viewing. A recent 2015 review of previous 2007 research, which linked babies watching videos with poor language development, has found that there was statistical and methodological issues with the 2007 study and that there are no strong inferences to be drawn between media exposure and language development (Ferguson and Donellan). Thus, there seems to be no conclusive evidence-based research on which to inform parents and educators about the possible downside or benefits of touch screen use. Nonetheless, early childhood experts have been quick to weigh in on the possible effects of screen usage, some providing restrictive guidelines and recommendations, with others advocating the use of interactive apps for very young children for their educational value. This knowledge-gap disguises what is actually happening in the lives of real Australian families. Due to the lack of local data, as well as worldwide research, it is essential that Australian researchers obtain a comprehensive understanding about actual behaviour around touch screen use in the lives of children aged between zero and five and their families. Beginning Research While research into very young children’s touch screen use is beginning to take place, few results have been published. When researching two to three year olds’ learning from interactive versus non-interactive videos Kirkorian, Choi and Pempek found that “toddlers may learn more from interactive media than from non-interactive video” (Kirkorian et al). This means that the use of interactive apps on touch screen devices may hold a greater potential for learning than passive video or television viewing for children in this age range. Another study considered the degree to which the young children could navigate to and use apps on touch screen devices by observing and analysing YouTube videos of infants and young children using touch screens (Hourcade et al.). It was found that between the ages of 12 months and 17 months the children filmed seemed to begin to “make meaningful use of the tablets [and] more than 90 per cent of children aged two [had] reached this level of ability” (1923). The kind of research mentioned above, usually the preserve of psychologists, paediatricians and some educators, does not, however, ground very young children’s use in their domestic context—in the spaces and with those people with whom most touch screen usage takes place. With funding from the Australian Research Council Australian, Irish and UK researchers are about to adopt a media studies (domestication) approach to comprehensively investigate digital media use in the everyday lives of very young children. This Australian-based research project positions very young children’s touch screen use within the family and will help provide an understanding of the everyday knowledge and strategies that this cohort of technology users (very young children and their parents) have already developed—in the knowledge vacuum left by the swift appropriation and incorporation of these new media technologies into the lives of families with very young children. Whilst using a conventional social constructionist perspective, the project will also adopt a co-creation of knowledge approach. The co-creation of knowledge approach (Fong) has links with the communities of practice literature (Wegner) and recognises that parents, care-givers and the children themselves are the current experts in this field in terms of the everyday uses of these technologies by very young children. Families’ everyday discourse and practices regarding their children’s touch screen use do not necessarily work through obvious power hierarchies (via expert opinions), but rather through a process of meaning making where they shape their own understandings and attitudes through experience and shared talk within their own everyday family communities of practice. This Toddlers and Tablets research is innovative in many ways. It seeks to capture the enthusiasm of young children’s digital interactions and to pioneer new ways of ‘beginnings’ researching with very young children, as well as with their parents. The researchers will work with parents and children in their broad domestic contexts (including in and out-of-home activities, and grandparental and wider-family involvement) to co-create knowledge about young children’s digital technologies and the social contexts in which these technologies are used. Aspects of these interactions, such as interviews and observations of everyday digital interactions will be recorded (audio and video respectively). In addition to this, data collected from media commentary, policy debates, research publications and learned articles from other disciplinary traditions will be interrogated to see if there are correlations, contrasts, trends or synergies between parents’ construction of meaning, public commentary and current research. Critical discourse tools and methods (Chouliaraki and Fairclough) will be used to analyse verbatim transcripts, video, and all written materials. Conclusion Very young children are uniquely dependent upon others for the basic necessities of life and for the tools they need, and will need to develop, to claim their place in the world. Given the ubiquitous role played by digital media in the lives of their parents and other caregivers it would be a distortion of everyday life for children to be excluded from the technologies that are routinely used to connect with other people and with information. In the same way that adults use digital media to renew and strengthen social and emotional bonds across distance, so young children delight in ‘Facetime’ and other technologies that connect them audio-visually with friends and family members who are not physically co-present. Similarly, a very short time spent in the company of toddlers using touch screens is sufficient to demonstrate the sheer delight that these young infants have in developing their sense of agency and autonomy (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aXV-yaFmQNk). Media, communications and cultural studies are beginning to claim a space for evidence based policy drawn from everyday activities in real life contexts. Research into the beginnings of digital life, with families who are beginning to find a way to introduce these technologies to the youngest generation, integrating them within social and emotional repertoires, may prove to be the start of new understandings into the communication skills of the preverbal and preliterate young people whose technology preferences will drive future development – with their parents likely trying to keep pace. Acknowledgment This research is supported under Australia Research Council’s Discovery Projects funding scheme (project number DP150104734). References Bittman, Michael, et al. "Digital Natives? New and Old Media and Children's Outcomes." Australian Journal of Education 55.2 (2011): 161-75. Brown, Ari. "Media Use by Children Younger than 2 Years." Pediatrics 128.5 (2011): 1040-45. Burr, Vivien. Social Constructionism. 2nd ed. London: Routledge, 2003. Cavanaugh, Cathy, et al. 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