In this episode of the Brain Architects, we explore how stability across multiple domains shapes healthy development for young children and their caregivers.

Drawing on insights from the latest working paper from the Early Childhood Scientific Council on Equity and the Environment, From Resources to Routines: The Importance of Stability in the Developmental Environment, this conversation examines how interconnected systems—including housing, employment, health care, education, and community supports—can help create, maintain, and restore stability.

The webinar highlights complementary frameworks, including the Urban Institute’s Web of Stabilizing Supports and EMPath's Economic Mobility Bridge, to explore how families experience stability across different aspects of daily life. Panelists share examples of how organizations, systems, and communities can work together to strengthen stability, support economic mobility, and promote healthy development for children and caregivers.

In this episode of The Brain Architects, Lindsey Burghardt, MD, MPH, FAAP, moderates a conversation with Nathaniel Harnett, PhD, and Natalie Slopen, ScD, drawing on insights from the new working paper From Resources to Routines: The Importance of Stability in the Developmental Environment. The discussion explores how stability across children’s developmental environments shapes their well-being both in the moment and across the lifespan. They examine the science behind how predictable, supportive relationships and environments influence brain development, stress responses, and long-term health outcomes.

Building on this understanding, this episode highlights practical strategies to promote stability for young children and their caregivers, from strengthening consistent, responsive relationships to advancing policies and systems that support stable caregiving environments.

In this episode of the Brain Architects, Nat Kendall-Taylor, CEO of the FrameWorks Institute, Lindsey Burghardt, our Chief Science Officer; Margot Brown, Senior Vice President of Justice & Equity at the Environmental Defense Fund; and Jaclyn Roessel, President and CEO of Grownup Navajo, dive into the findings and recommendations from this report as well as their own experience and expertise.

This conversation explores a new report from the Center, created in collaboration with the Frameworks Institute and the Center for Climate, Health, and the Global Environment--or C-CHANGE--at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. The new report shows that, despite the risk of long-term harm for children, children are not a major focus of climate-related policy or media coverage. The report also provides evidence-based strategies for bringing children into the conversation to help ensure they can thrive in a changing climate.