Early Years Catalyst – Catalysts and Field-Building Intermediaries

Explores the key features, structures, and enablers of effective field catalysts and intermediaries.

The Early Years Catalyst was established following the 2020 National Early Years Summit to facilitate a new approach and collective way of working to shift Australia’s early years system, to realise the Summit’s vision that by 2030, significantly more children will be thriving in their first 2,000 days and beyond (pregnancy to five). Formed as a collaboration with twelve founding members, the Early Years Catalyst trialled a ‘field catalyst’ model for early childhood development, seeking to drive population-level change by amplifying the efforts of the many individuals and organisations working to improve outcomes for children and their families, particularly those experiencing disadvantage and vulnerability. 

The Early Years Catalyst commissioned Clear Horizon to undertake a deep dive into field-building intermediaries, with a focus on the field catalyst model. The insights from the literature, case studies and experts are captured in two discussion papers: 

• Catalysing Change at Scale: Features and enablers of effective field catalysts and field-building intermediaries  

• Evaluating Field-Building Intermediaries: Challenges and emerging approaches for early-stage field catalysts 

Publications

• 
  Catalysing change at scale

  Explores the key features, structures, and enablers of effective field catalysts and intermediaries, drawing on local and international insights. It examines how these approaches are designed, implemented, and driving impact, while also considering challenges for practice and investment. The paper offers a framework for assessing whether a field catalyst model could support large-scale change.

• 
  Evaluating field-building intermediaries

  Explores the challenges and emerging approaches for evaluating field-building intermediaries, particularly field catalysts. It highlights the need to move beyond traditional program evaluation to assess their impact on systems and long-term social change, drawing on leading Australian and international approaches.