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The aim of this article is to explore the social dimension of sustainable development through children’s expressions of belonging in peer communities in preschool. Social sustainability and sustainable communities emphasize practices, human activity, and interactions that are equitable, inclusive, and sustainable, and preschool provides children with experiences of participation in collective groups and networks. Belonging to a community is an existential need and belonging, itself, is a relational phenomenon. Belonging is connected to power, the notion of “us” sets boundaries and creates a “them”. Based on Yuval-Davis’ analytical concepts and using video observation of children’s (aged 3–5) free play, this article explores children’s belonging in peer communities. This study contributes new knowledge in the field of social sustainability by illuminating communities of belonging built on closeness, conflict/negotiations, and joyfulness. Together, these elements embody experiences of importance to children’s belonging. A common thread running through these communities is the relationship between the individual and the community.

This article explores belonging as social interaction in relation to power and values. Power has both positive and negative aspects. We view children as active agents with the power to include or exclude others, create space for each other or set boundaries. The article shows how children’s powers are limited by education staff’s structural power and discusses the ethical and pedagogical implications of children’s and staff’s use of power. We find that well-considered use of power may widen children’s horizons and provide them with social opportunities that they would otherwise miss. The data consist of video observation and interviews with children and teachers in three Early Childhood Education and Care settings in Norway. The article uses a lifeworld hermeneutical approach to study children’s belonging as a complex and sometimes ambiguous phenomenon. The article shows that children’s possibilities to position themselves and belong are made possible and limited by their social group via relational and structural power. By becoming aware of these contradictory tendencies, teachers can provide children with a variety of social experiences that promote belonging, which requires knowledge of how groups are formed by dynamic power relations that condition different social experiences.

I denne oppgaven setter forfatteren lys på verdiene omsorg og demokrati i barnehager i Kosovo. Hensikten med oppgaven er å finne ut hvordan tre barnehagelærere i Kosovo ivaretar verdiene og omsorg i den barnehagen de jobber i. Det er de siste årene barnehagene i Kosovo har startet å bety mye for samfunnet og familiene. Det er mye forskning på verdiene omsorg og demokrati i de nordiske landene og forfatteren mente at det ville komme forskjeller og ulikheter hvis det var forskning på de to verdiene i et land som Kosovo. In this thesis, the author shades light on the values of care and democracy in kindergartens in Kosovo. The purpose of this assignment is to find out how three kindergarten teachers in Kosovo safeguard the values and care in the kindergarten they work in. It is in recent years that kindergartens in Kosovo have started to make sense to sociaty and families. There is a lot of research on the values of care and democracy in the Nordic countries and the author believed that there will be differences and inequalities if the research can happen in Kosovo.