EFTA Conversation: Advancing Quality in Family Support: Practical Tools and Critical Insights from EurofamNet

With Prof. John Canavan & Lucia Jiménez

Chairperson: Umberta Telfener

In this presentation, we will introduce the work of EurofamNet, a pan-European network that brings together researchers, practitioners, policymakers, and family representatives with the aim of informing family support policies and practices through an evidence-based, interdisciplinary and co-productive approach.

Building on this collaborative process, EurofamNet has developed a shared evidence base and a wide range of practice-oriented materials. In this session, we will share practical tools and critical insights emerging from this collaborative work—including programmes, quality frameworks and assessment tools—with a focus on how they can support professionals in strengthening family support and relational practices across diverse contexts from a systemic approach. We also aim to open a space for dialogue and mutual learning, engaging with participants’ experiences and perspectives.

Prof. John Canavan is the UNESCO Chair in Children, Youth, and Civic Engagement, Director of the UNESCO Child and Family Research Centre (UCFRC), and Personal Professor in Political Science and Sociology at the University of Galway, Ireland. John’s main research interests are Family Support, evaluation theory, and connecting research, policy and practice. He has the privilege of working for many years with practitioners, service managers and policy makers in the children and families field, and is passionate about the role of research in improving children’s lives. John teaches at undergraduate, masters and Ph.D. levels in the School of Political Science and Sociology. His most recent book is Systems Complexity in Child Protection and Welfare (2025, Routledge) authored with colleagues from the UCFRC.

Lucía Jiménez is Associate Professor at the Department of Developmental and Educational Psychology in Seville University (Spain). Her research is focused on the design and evaluation of family education and support programmes, particularly aimed at children and families in psychosocial risk situations. She is currently the Chair of the European Family Support Network (EurofamNet). She has extensive experience in advising professionals, public and private institutions for child and family support programs’ implementation and evaluation, disseminating a number of policy reports on the topic.
 

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