Emerging Trends in Research and Innovation
About the Emerging Trends Fund
Through the Emerging Trends Fund (ETF), the LEGO Foundation provides small grants to support strategic initiatives that aim to accelerate the scale and impact of the GPI’s research, innovation and advocacy activities. Opportunities include additional support for existing GPI projects, piloting of new and innovative ideas, and responding to emerging needs for further research or engagement from stakeholders.
Since the start of the GPI, 14 ETF projects have been launched, with over 70% led by GPI Future Leaders. Awarded ETF’s cover a wide range of research, evaluation, innovation, advocacy and capacity building themes.
Themes and projects
- Adaptation of the ‘Malezi Bora’ programme to involve street-connected fathers in Eldoret, Kenya
- Randomised Controlled Trial of ‘Hope Groups’, an initiative supporting parents in Ukraine
- Development and preliminary testing of a FacilitatorApp in Zambia, designed to provide structured, real-time support to facilitators engaged in various forms of in-person or hybrid programme delivery
- Development and piloting of an Early Family Maths App in Kenya, a resource promoting playful learning between parents and young children (aged 2-4) through engaging mathematical activities and stories
- Upgrading ParentApp for Teens backend infrastructure and document adaptation processes to ensure easier localisation in Tanzania and replication for future deployments
- Engaging an Advocacy Consultant to provide expert guidance and strengthen the GPI’s preparations in the lead-up to the first Global Ministerial Conference to End Violence Against Children in Bogotá, Columbia (6-7 November 2024) to ensure that parenting and caregiver support was prioritised in global child protection strategies
- Transforming the evaluation a trauma-informed adaptation of PLH for migrant and displaced families living on the Thailand/Myanmar Border from a small-scale pilot to a fully powered Randomised Controlled Trial
- Rapid development and evaluation of a shortened, digital only version of the ParentText chatbot (5 Day User Experience) through a large-scale three-arm Randomised Controlled Trial in South Africa
- Strengthening disability inclusive content of the Parenting for Respectability programme to improve accessibility in Uganda
- Review and enhancement of Family Development Sessions within a National Conditional Cash Transfer Programme to scale long-term positive and playful parenting support for low income families in the Philippines
- Evaluation of an adapted version of MaPaChat in Valenzuela City, the Philippines and a Randomised Controlled Trial of an adapted version of ParentChat, in Udon Thani, Thailand
- Supporting Jonathan Klapwijk and Lauren van Niekkerk’s Doctoral research on Playful Parenting at the University of Oxford and Male Engagement at the University of Cape Town
High-level policy engagement at the Global Ministerial Conference to End Violence against children
ETF support enabled the GPI advocacy team to engage an advocacy consultant to strengthen GPI’s efforts in the lead-up to the Global Ministerial Conference (GMC) to End Violence Against Children in Bogotá.
The consultant provided expert guidance to GPI country teams and their government partners to ensure that parenting and caregiver support was prioritised in global child protection strategies.
Key activities included arranging high-level meetings with policymakers to advocate for the inclusion of parenting and caregiver support in national GMC pledges, supporting GPI teams’ participation in preparatory sessions, and drafting evidence-based commitments.
Strengthening the Family Development Sessions within a National Conditional Cash Transfer Programme
The Philippines Department of Social Welfare and Development conditional cash transfer programme delivered to four million low-income Filipino families includes Family Development Services (FDS) sessions with integrated PLH content focused on playful, nurturing parenting.
Emerging Trends Fund support has enabled the project team to assess the delivery of the FDS session and PLH content in the 2023/4 period and to look at longer term options to monitor and evaluate programme delivery over time.
Transforming Math Learning: Insights from a Kenyan Pilot Study
An Early Family Math pilot tested with 81 caregivers in Kenya, funded under an Emerging Trends Funds grant and led by INNODEMS, found the app turned math into a fun and engaging experience, sparking children’s interest and strengthening parent-child bonds.
The expert-developed core content aligned with Kenya’s curriculum, but parents suggested customisations to enhance cultural relevance. The app shifted parental attitudes, replacing caregiver math anxiety with confidence.
At the same time challenges such as low and variable technological literacy, a short timeframe, and a small sample size highlighted the need for follow-up research, and larger studies. This project underscored the potential of applying Innovate-developed technology to early math learning and family engagement.
Hope Groups in Crisis: Supporting Families in Wartime Ukraine
One of the first randomised controlled trials conducted during active war, the Hope Groups RCT tested a psychosocial and parenting support intervention among 510 Ukrainians affected by conflict.
The study found significant improvements in caregiver mental health, parenting, child well-being, and reductions in violence against children. Positive parenting increased by 32%, while physical and emotional violence against children fell by over 50%.
Urgent need led to immediate delivery of the intervention to control groups, prompting a novel quasi-experimental design to evaluate long-term impact. Hope Groups is now informing adaptations in crisis-affected regions including Zimbabwe, Colombia, the Middle East, and India.
Interim trial findings were presented at a World Without Orphans conference to over 500 faith leaders from 100 countries seeking interventions to strengthen children in crisis settings. Study findings have subsequently been published in the Journal of Migration and Health.
