This panel explores how Early Childhood Music Education (ECME) can act as a driver for systemic transformation in music and arts. Drawing on the ongoing Erasmus+ project Co-Connecting Early Childhood Music Education (CC-ECME), the panel examines systemic barriers such as inequity, gaps in access, insufficient training, and fragmented collaboration, and positions equitable access to ECME as a transformative force for social and cultural inclusion. We aim to investigate how music education institutions, particularly music schools, can initiate and sustain systemic change by fostering collaboration and co-creating local, inclusive, and high-quality ECME solutions. In this project, ECME refers to music education in the last two years of pre-primary and the first two of primary education and provides young children with an early and lasting relationship with music and the arts. As the earliest point of contact with institutionalised music education, it lays the foundation for more inclusive participation in the arts. However, access to ECME remains uneven across Europe, excluding many children from education in and through music and the arts, which are fundamental to artistic expression and cultural understanding (EACEA, 2023; Merrick, 2024; Henning & Schult, 2021). Moreover, this lack of access not only limits young people's development of advanced musicianship and pathways to professional careers but also perpetuates a lack of diversity in higher music education and the professional music sector (Barrett & Westerlund, 2024; Ilmola-Sheppard et al., 2021; Westerlund et al., 2021; Guerra et al., 2020; Hennenberg et al., 2019; Wright, 2015, 2010). Strengthening ECME as a universal and equitable entry point into music education is therefore essential to breaking inherited patterns of cultural exclusion, creating long-term opportunities, and fostering more inclusive higher education systems. Three key challenges shape the current situation. First, ECME availability and public funding vary significantly across Europe, with little comprehensive data to address these differences. Publicly funded extracurricular music schools play a critical role in ensuring early access (EMU, 2021), yet their traditional focus on musical talent and performance often overshadows broader inclusion efforts (Westerlund et al., 2024). Second, the impact of ECME depends on highly specialized educators, yet many countries lack structured training programs for this field. As a result, instrumental and vocal teachers—often unfamiliar with ECME pedagogies—struggle to meet its unique demands. Third, a deeper understanding of systemic and contextual factors is necessary to maximize ECME’s potential as a driver of transformation. As inequality in early childhood education grows and more children face poverty and social exclusion (Eurochild, 2023; Välimäki et al., 2024), ECME could serve as an early intervention tool, fostering equal opportunities from the start.The following presentations will address these challenges in greater detail.1. Mapping ECME and Policy ImplicationsThis presentation introduces the first findings of the European mapping of ECME practices and policy analysis, outlining the literature review, survey development, and systems analysis approach. It addresses key challenges of participation to ECME, such as systemic barriers, unequal provision, and regional differences, and reflects on how these considerations can inform cultural and educational policy. Special attention is given to the fragmented state of institutional collaboration and to the potential of policy reform to support stronger and interconnected cross-sectoral partnerships.2. Higher Music Education CurriculaThis presentation discusses how curricula currently address (or fail to address) professional knowledge and competences in relation to ECME, and identifies gaps in preparing future educators for inclusive and socially responsive practice. It presents the results of a needs assessment and an analysis of higher music education curricula, highlighting the importance of offering educators resources to collaborate effectively across institutional boundaries, particularly between higher music education, music schools, and early childhood education providers. 3. From Policy to Practice: Good Practices within EMUThis presentation highlights the role of the European Music School Union (EMU) as a key partner in connecting research and practice. It explores how music schools across Europe engage with the CC-ECME project, contribute practitioner perspectives, and advocate for systemic change. A central emphasis lies on collaboration: only by building partnerships between music schools, kindergartens, schools, and communities can equitable ECME provision be achieved for all children. The presentation showcases some good practice examples and how institutions must evolve internally to enable such cross-sectoral work.What makes this panel unique is its integrative approach: it connects policy analysis, curriculum design, and cross-sectoral collaboration. By linking research findings with institutional practice, it demonstrates how systemic transformation in ECME requires coordinated efforts across multiple levels of the education system.The session will close with a joint discussion among panelists and the audience. The aim is to develop concrete ways in which advocacy and communication strategies can support such collaborative, sustainable change and make ECME more visible as a driver of social transformation.