Plenary Session: Working strategies for a sustainable learning city

Learning cities at all stages of development can benefit greatly from sharing ideas with other cities, since solutions for issues arising as one learning city develops may already exist in other cities. To facilitate this sharing of ideas and to offer many other forms of support for the development of learning cities around the world, the UNESCO Institute for Lifelong Learning (UIL) conceived the Global Network of Learning Cities (GNLC) in 2012. The work of this network has been progressing apace, and the network is taking on a leading role in providing capacity-building activities, technical support and multiple communication channels for cities to exchange ideas on and experiences of developing learning cities.

In order to further promote lifelong learning for all and encourage good practice in building learning cities, this session will launch the publication Unlocking the Potential of Urban Communities: Case Studies of Twelve Learning Cities, which includes a set of guidelines for building learning cities. These guidelines aim to provide cities with strategic approaches for building dynamic and sustainable learning cities. The case studies, meanwhile, highlight examples of cities from all over the world that use the learning city approach to enhance citizens’ individual empowerment, social cohesion, economic development, cultural prosperity and sustainable development. Sessions in this sub-theme will also launch the UNESCO Learning City Award and introduce the membership process for cities wishing to join the UNESCO Global Network of Learning Cities (GNLC). The Award will be conferred on cities which have achieved outstanding progress in building learning cities by implementing the Beijing Declaration on Building Learning Cities and the Key Features of Learning Cities.

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Provisional Agenda