4E Parent: Promoting Active Fatherhood

Fathers who care for their sons and daughters from the very first moments after birth, in a concrete and empathetic way, are at the heart of the European project 4E-PARENT.

The four “E’s” summarise the project’s objectives: Early, to promote involvement from the outset; Equal, to foster an equitable and balanced approach; Engaged, referring to active participation; and Empathetic, highlighting the emotional, caring, and responsive dimension of fatherhood.

As scientific literature has long shown, fathers’ early, hands-on, and empathetic involvement in parenting has positive outcomes for children’s cognitive, social, and emotional development. It helps build a strong emotional bond from the beginning, improves the psychophysical well-being of the whole family, and contributes both to gender equality and to the prevention of domestic violence.

The project, which is supported by European funding, is led by the Italian National Institute of Health (Istituto Superiore di Sanità – ISS).

Planned actions include a comprehensive training programme for healthcare and education professionals; advocacy activities in Italy and at the European level to promote fathers’ involvement and shared caregiving by influencing public policies and corporate welfare schemes; and extensive communication work on gender stereotypes, aimed at fostering cultural change and knowledge sharing.