PASCAL International Observatory congratulates sixteen cities on receiving a Learning City Award at the Third International Conference on Learning Cities, held in Cork, Ireland from 18-20 September.

The UNESCO Learning City Awards have been established to encourage and reward progress in developing learning cities around the world. UNESCO Institute of Lifelong learning stated that the following cities have made outstanding progress in implementing the Key Features of Learning Cities:

Bristol (United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland), Câmara de Lobos (Portugal), Contagem (Brazil), Gelsenkirchen (Germany), Giza (Egypt), Hangzhou (China), Larissa (Greece), Limerick (Ireland), Mayo-Baléo (Cameroon), N’Zérékoré (Guinea), Okayama (Japan), Pécs  (Hungary), Surabaya (Indonesia), Suwon (Republic of Korea), Tunis (Tunisia), Villa María (Argentina). Source: http://uil.unesco.org/lifelong-learning/learning-cities/unesco-learning-....

Representatives from the award winning cities

Representatives from the award winning cities

More cities around the world are now thinking about how lifelong learning and how a learning city approach can enhance individual well-being, stimulate economic growth and promote healthy living environments.  PASCAL also promotes this approach through EcoWELL which argues  that “learning, health, community building, and cultural policies can each contribute to the well-being of citizens and their families. This impact can be enhanced if policies and strategies are co-ordinated” (http://lcn.pascalobservatory.org/networks/eccowell). The City of Cork is a leading proponent of EcoWELL and  PASCAL Director, Peter Kearns, author of the concept, lead a workshop at the conference on how to implement this approach.

At the Award Ceremony, held on Monday 18 September, Mr Standly Mutumba Simataa, President of the General Conference, UNESCO welcomed and congratulated the award winning cities. Mr Khvaja Kabiroddin Shaikh, Director a.i., UNESCO Institute of Lifelong Learning (UIL), reminded participants and all members of the Global Network of Learning Cities of the wealth of resources now available on the UNESCO web site, including online learning modules and two volumes of case studies about award winning cities on how they plan, mobilise and utilise resources, celebrate, evaluate and monitor their learning city work (UNESCO UIL, 2015, 2017).

Mr Standly Mutumba Simataa, President of the General Conference, UNESCO congratulating the cities

Mr Khvaja Kabiroddin Shaikh, Director a.i., UNESCO Institute of Lifelong Learning (UIL) demonstrating resources

Mr Khvaja Kabiroddin Shaikh, Director a.i., UNESCO Institute of Lifelong Learning (UIL)

Mr Raúl Valdes-Cotera, Programme Coordinator, UNESCO Institute for Lifelong Learning reviewing  Volume II of Unlocking Potential of Urban Communities

If you are interested in finding out more about using a learning city approach in your own city or community I recommend that you take the time to read through the resources. For example, I found Volume One of Unlocking the Potential of Urban Communities very helpful when I was reviewing how “learning in and for the workplace”  aligned to skills development, TVET policy, business and industry. I undertook a content analysis and found that the twelve cities demonstrate that such learning had a high priority in terms of both creation of employment for economic development and social inclusion. For example, I read that Beijing’s lifelong learning system is aimed at producing ‘highly qualified workers who can support sustainable development of the urban economy and improve the quality of life of the citizens of Beijing’ (UNESCO UIL., 2015, p. 37). Another example is Espoo’s Youth Guarantee ensures ‘all people under the age of 30 are offered a high-quality job, further education, an apprenticeship or traineeship within four months of leaving formal education or becoming unemployed’ (UNESCO UIL, 2015 p. 62). I also found The Swansea Bay Entrepreneurial Learning City Region a particularly interesting example as it seeks to embed entrepreneurial learning in all forms of education and lifelong learning.  PASCAL has an MOU to work with UNESCO’s UIL to support cities wishing to become members of GNLC In the past  PASCAL has worked with a number of award winning cities on their journey to become a Learning City (see http://lcn.pascalobservatory.org).

The theme of this year’s conference was on how lifelong learning supports the achievement of the United Nation Sustainable Development Goals (UN SDGs) at a local level. The conference at Cork provided many examples of how members of the GNLC were carrying out action on the ground and I recommend you read Volume II of Unlocking the Potential of Urban Communities to learn from the sixteen 2017 award winning cites and also join the  PASCAL community by subscribing to our newsletter.

Dr Leone Wheeler
Board Member,  PASCAL International Observatory

Further Resources:

• PASCAL International Observatory. (2014). Why learning is central to city futures: A policy briefing from  PASCAL International Observatory. Retrieved from PASCAL International Observatory website: http://pascalobservatory.org/pascalnow/pascal-activities/news/why-learni...
• UNESCO UIL. (2015). Unlocking the Potential or Urban Communities: Case Study of Twelve Learning Cities. Retrieved from http://unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0023/002345/234536e.pdf
• UNESCO UIL. (2017). Unlocking the Potential of Urban Communities Volume II: Case Studies of Sixteen Learning Cities   Retrieved from http://www.uil.unesco.org/lifelong-learning/learning-cities/unlocking-po...