July 2021

We have inspirational members as part of the ALCN and I am always happy to bring you their stories. We start our newsletter with the great news that the Business Proposal to establish Wollongong as a Learning City has been approved for funding for the next three years. I would like to congratulate the Learning City Project team on this achievement.

The 2021 Global Learning Festival is on again from 8-10 November and you are welcome to take part. Register your event by 1 September.

Read about the work of our RMIT student Ava Ter, and her reflections on working with us during Semester 1. This includes her fantastic contribution to LearnWest's 2021 Learning for Earning Festival.

There is an update from members of the network; a review of a book launch about Powering a Learning Society in an Age of Disruption, and some monthly reading.

Please keep those stories and ideas coming and feedback on this newsletter is very welcome, and finally, like us on Facebook - search for [email protected].

With my best wishes.
 
Dr Leone Wheeler
Hon. CEO
Australian Learning Communities Network
Website: www.alcn.com.au
fb: @aus.alcn
+61 (0) 456 038 236     Email: [email protected]

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The 2021 Global Learning Festival - 8-11 November 2021
The Global Learning Festival seeks to provide unity and connection to communities all over the world

This is the second year of the Global Learning Festival, and it is hosted by Wyndham City Council and Melton City Council, Australia. Collaborators include ALCN, PASCAL International Observatory, ALA, UNESCO GNLC and WISE. Other Learning Cities in England, Wales, Ireland, the USA, and other countries are contributing so far.
 
 Why not run an event?  There is still time to register your interest. The closing date is 1 September 2021.  To find out or register for your event go to: https://www.globallearningfestival.com/
 

Thank you, Ava …
Most Significant Impact: My learning, unlearning and relearning journey in the Learning for Earning Festival
 

News from the Networks
 

Brimbank City Council



The Brimbank Writers & Readers Festival (BWRF) is an annual event that encourages a love of reading and literature, celebrates creativity and diversity, and promotes lifelong learning in Brimbank. The ten-day program of workshops, author talks, panel discussions, storytelling and more aims to reduce participation barriers by hosting events at no charge for the community.

The 16th Brimbank Writers and Readers Festival was held 17-26 June 2021 and was initially planned to be in-person, with some key events live-streamed to enable greater community participation. But the Victorian COVID-19 lockdown from late May until mid-June saw the festival pivot to an entirely online platform with minimal disruptions to the scheduled program. The move online saw a jump in the number of people from beyond the Brimbank municipality participate than in previous years; feedback from participants has been centred on being impressed with the diversity of the program and enjoyment of hearing community stories from local voices.


This year’s program included events with an assorted range of storytellers, including Opening Night with Aboriginal Elder and actor Uncle Jack Charles in conversation with Paul Bateman, a publishing workshop with authors Sherryl Clark, Enza Gandolfo and Natalie Kon-Yu, a microfiction story writing competition and an author talk with acclaimed children’s author Scott Stuart.

To watch some of the recorded events from this year’s BWRF – head to the Brimbank Libraries YouTube channel

For more information about the Brimbank Writers and Readers Festival visit our website here.
The principal sponsor of the festival is Victoria University Polytechnic.
 

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The City of Hume
The Hume Multiversity Tertiary Scholarship Program
The Hume Multiversity Tertiary Scholarship Program is part of the Council’s response to a COVID-19 recovery package in response to the impacts that the pandemic has had on employment. The scholarship program is offered to Hume residents in area such as Transport and Logistics; Health and Community Care; Education; Construction; Advanced Manufacturing; Food and Fibre and the Visitor Economy.

The offer is a one-year scholarship to 70 eligible Hume residents to commence a new tertiary qualification (Certificate III and above) with La Trobe University, Victoria University, Melbourne Polytechnic or Kangan Institute.

For more information and to apply, visit hume.vic.gov.au/multiversity-scholarships
 

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LearnWest: 2021 Learning for Earning Festival

The LearnWest Network are proud to share their final report on the inaugural 2021 Learning for Earning Festival, that took place in May 2021. This project was an important collaboration between six councils from Western Melbourne to support our various communities in learning and earning to improve outcomes across the west. These councils were Wyndham City Council (WCC), Melton City Council, Brimbank City Council, Hobson's Bay City Council, Maribyrnong City Council and Moonee Valley Council. This project also included an important collaboration with the Australian Learning Communities Network, who partnered with WCC to support an International Development student from RMIT University, Ava Ter, to lead the writing of the final report and the collection of stories of Most Significant Change.  The report includes an interesting analysis of the initiative, and an evaluation framework that captures important qualitative and quantitative data. This project, which ties into Action 12 of the Wyndham Learning Community Strategy (LCS), is unique in its cross-council collaboration in learning in Australia.

You can download the 2021 Learning for Earning Festival Report here. Also. Lara Pugh, Project Leader Learning City, Wollongong, has written a handout on Hosting a Learning Festival – 10 Tips for Beginners. This is based on interviews with organisers of the 2021 Learning for Earning Festival.  Read more here.

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Melton City Council

Adam Josifovski, Coordinator Community Activation and Learning reported that the annual Melton Lifelong Learning Festival will be held from 10-17 September. The events at the Festival will be mixed mode, that is, online and face to face and the focus will be on quality and depth of learning.

Read more about the Festival

Also, in the last fiscal year, the Community Activation and Learning Team have delivered 400 community learning events, with over 3,400 people attending those events, and there were 182,000 views on the Melton Learning Directory YouTube Channel with over 1,700 subscribers. Also, in reporting on their work they are aligning with the relevant United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (UN SDGs).

 

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Wyndham City Council
 
The annual Wyndham Learning Festival is on again this year from 1-5 September 2021. This year’s theme is Re-Emerge, Connect and Thrive. The annual Wyndham Learning Festival is a whole community event that provides opportunities for FREE learning activities across the City of Wyndham.  Read more:
 
The team in the Libraries and Community Learning area (Diane and Jac) have put together a collection of Learning City Resources. This includes a definition of a UNESCO Learning City; an article published in the Australian Journal of Adult Education about Wyndham’s journey towards a sustainable learning community; and evaluation reports about the 2020 Global Learning Festival and the 2021 Learning for Earning Festival.  Read more:
 

I attended a virtual launch of this book about learning societies which was organised by the Asian Development Bank (ADB) on 9 July. Keynote presenters representing the ADB spoke of how this book encourages you to investigate the ideas and values of a learning society across a country and a region.
 
 Edited by Sungsup Ra, Shanti Jagannathan, and Rupert Maclean, on behalf of the Asian Development Bank and Springer, contributions are made by 40 authors across 21 chapters, including a chapter I co-wrote with Professor Rupert Maclean on Conceptualising the Meaning, Theory and Practice of Learning Societies During an Age of Disruption.
 
The Editors spoke about how the book highlights the disruption we are experiencing, not just because of the current health pandemic, but also because of the changes as part of Industry 4.0, including disruptive technologies – AI, robotics, social media; as well as emphasizing climate change which of course is not going away! COVID-19 is a wake-up call and has meant that policymakers, academics and practitioners are now investing in remodelling learning systems and are looking for solutions.

Key takeaways:

• The importance of investing in education and knowledge to close the learning and equity gap.
• The role of behavioural change by individuals, organisations and communities and adaptation to rapid change.
• Developing a culture of learning across all walks of life. Learning is a lifetime journey.

Key challenges that were highlighted:

• The widening learning gap, for example, between urban and rural communities; between those who have resources and those who do not; the digital divide …
• The need for a multidisciplinary approach. (We in the learning community movement are well-aware of this approach!)
• Learnability – the ability of individuals to learn -the skills that can be applied to the collective – the family, the workplace; the importance of civil society, and caring for our world!

There are very daunting challenges facing us.
Schools cannot be the lone frontiers. We must involve the local community plus enterprises plus families and communities. Education and training are too complex to be left to Government, students, and parents. It must also involve civil society and business enterprises.

It is important to create and empower a learning society with many actors including city planners, libraries, technology planners and integrating with learning opportunities. Public and private partnerships are the key.

Expert presenter Professor Dr Mauritis van Rooijen, Chairman of GISMA’s Board of Governors and Chief Academic Officer of Global Systems at Global University Systems Global Economic Systems made the following points which are very pertinent to anyone working in the learning community/learning city space:

• Learning is the lifeblood of the knowledge economy. Lifelong learning is the key. To date, we have focussed too much on the formal learning systems. We should also include non-formal and informal learning as this represents 90 per cent of all learning in society. We must look much more into the informal and non-formal sectors. Employers know learning is the key to success in modern society. Employees are continuously having to learn (both formally and informally), especially in these times (think of those of us who have become masters (or not!) of our video systems – eg Zoom).
• Globalisation. Education is not immune to globalisation. It is impossible to monopolise knowledge. Through learning, we can create a level playing field.
• Learning is a means to liberalise. Learning can be seen as a threat and teaching as a way to control. Learning can be seen as disruptive to society. If you prevent a learning society, you create frustrations within society, and this can be dangerous.
• Having a community of learners is a way of the future. It is Government’s role to remove regulatory obstacles. Encourage local learning communities, virtual learning communities and global learning communities.

I encourage you to read more and the good thing is that chapters of the book are free to download.

Reference:
Ra, S., S. Jagannathan, and R. Maclean, (2021) Powering a Learning Society in an Age of Disruption. Education in the Asia Pacific Region: Issues, Concerns and Prospects. Vol. 58. 2021: Springer.

Adult Learners’ Week- September 1-8, 2021

Make sure you encourage members of your community to join events as part of Adult Learners’ Week. As ALA states “learning gives us knowledge of the world around us. It can help transform us into something new – something better”. Find out about events in your state and how to register an event.
Read more:


The 5th UNESCO International Conference on Learning Cities, from 27 to 30 October 2021

This fifth international conference, hosted by Yeonsu (Republic of Korea), will be an opportunity to explore how learning cities can promote health education and contribute to emergency responses such as those established during the COVID-19 pandemic. Members of the Global Network of Learning Cities will have an opportunity to share examples of best practices and lessons learnt.

Read more:

New Learning Community Strategy - City of Canning  - Western Australia

City of Canning, Enriching Your World: Learning City Strategy (2020-2024). 2022, City of Canning: Canning, Western Australia. Retrieved from https://www.canning.wa.gov.au/CanningWebsite/media/Files/Enriching-Your-World-Learning-City-Strategy-2020-2024_1.pdf

We are pleased that the City of Canning has developed a Learning City Strategy that notes the Council is “committed to grow as a dynamic learning city and to foster an inclusive, connected, innovative and vibrant community.” The strategy also aligns with the United Nations (UN) Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and UNESCO’s Global Network of Learning Cities.

WISE, Qatar Foundation

Wise, Qatar Foundation, is undertaking a research project on Learning Ecosystems. You can find a series of papers at the website. This month I highlight a paper on Libraries.

Ng Chen Pong. Reimagining Libraries in a Learning Ecosystem Special Focus: Learning Ecosystems: A New Paradigm in the Learning Experience 2021 21 June 2021; Retrieved from: https://www.wise-qatar.org/reimagining-libraries-in-a-learning-ecosystem/.
 
For thousands of years, Libraries have had an important role as a gateway to knowledge and culture. Libraries have provided access to information for all sectors of society. Ng examines the role of libraries as part of a learning ecosystem. He says Libraries must make three shifts. First, libraries must broaden their collections beyond books, to a broad array of learning resources. Second, libraries must support not only individual learning but also facilitate learning within groups and communities of like-minded individuals. Third, libraries must personalize the experience and strengthen the scaffolding for learning. Libraries have a key role to play in a Post-COVID world.

Australian Policy Online (APO)

Savage, G. and J. Coyne. Collaborative nation-building: Port of Townsville case study. Australian Strategic Institute Retrieved from: HTTPS://APO.ORG.AU/NODE/312496.

The theme of the report is nation-building, not just as a one-off project but one that is "big picture and courageous" and the type of which infrastructure from which "economic, social and national security opportunities grow." The development of the Port of Townsville is done in a strategic way so that it can drive economic, social, and environmental prosperity.
 
World Economic Forum

World Economic Future, (2020)., Future of Work Report. 2020. Retrieved from http://www3.weforum.org/docs/WEF_Future_of_Jobs_2020.pdf

The Future of Jobs report maps the jobs and skills of the future, tracking the pace of change. It aims to shed light on the pandemic-related disruptions in 2020, contextualized within a longer history of economic cycles and the expected outlook for technology adoption, jobs and skills in the next five years.
 
“The top skills and skill groups which employers see as rising in prominence in the lead up to 2025 include groups such as critical thinking and analysis as well as problem-solving, and skills in self-management such as active learning, resilience, stress tolerance and flexibility (p.5).”
 
Source: Place Maker Weekly

Flyover Park: Empowering the Next Generation of City Builders in Calgary
An excellent example of people power in the design of pop-up parks alongside urban planning. Retrieved from: https://www.pps.org/article/flyover-park-empowering-the-next-generation-of-city-builders-in-calgary

For further information contact:

Dr. Leone Wheeler
Hon. CEO, Australian Learning Communities

Mobile: 0456 038 236.  Email: [email protected]
ALCN website www.alcn.com.au
Like us on Facebook – search for [email protected]