The UNESCO Learning City Award 2017 has opened for applications. This Award will be conferred on cities that demonstrate exemplary commitment to promoting inclusive education and lifelong learning at the local level.

While learning cities share certain characteristics, every learning city is unique. UNESCO looks forward to this uniqueness and diversity being reflected in a range of applications that will inspire learning cities the world over.

The UNESCO Learning City Award 2017 will not only give cities the recognition and motivation they deserve. It will also showcase the creative lifelong learning strategies they have implemented to promote sustainable social, cultural and economic development. I have no doubt that the Award will thereby inspire other learning cities around the world.

said Arne Carlsen, Director of the UNESCO Institute for Lifelong Learning (UIL). UIL is the secretariat of the UNESCO Global Network of Learning Cities, which coordinates the Award and UNESCO’s Learning Cities project.

Many cities around the world are committed to developing innovative strategies to transform their cities into learning cities. By putting education and lifelong learning at the heart of their development, learning cities have a crucial role to play in realizing the 2030 Sustainable Development Agenda, in particular Sustainable Development Goal 4 (to ‘ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all’) and Sustainable Development Goal 11 (to ‘make cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable’).

UNESCO is pleased to invite cities that are members of the UNESCO Global Network of Learning Cities to apply for the Award.

How do cities apply?

To apply for the Award, cities must:

1. Complete the Award Application Form and gather any necessary supporting material.
2. Ensure the Award Application Form is signed by the mayor.
3. Sign the Consent Form.
4. Send the application to their country’s National Commission for UNESCO by 31 August 2016.

Cities that are not yet members of the UNESCO Global Network of Learning Cities can find further information on membership here.

What happens after your city submits its application?

National Commissions for UNESCO will nominate up to three cities in their countries for the Award. An international jury appointed by UNESCO will then select up to six cities per region to receive the UNESCO Learning City Award 2017.

For further information, please contact the UNESCO Institute for Lifelong Learning (UIL), Feldbrunnenstr. 58, 20148 Hamburg, Germany; phone: +49 40 44 80 41 12; fax: +49 40 41 077 23; email: [email protected]; web: http://learningcities.uil.unesco.org/about-us/learning-city-award.

Watch the video call for applications here: