Faith / Spirituality-based Learning Cities Development Network Highlights for 2016 - 2018

The Faith / Spirituality-based Learning City Development Network has been growing since our beginnings in 2016. After the PASCAL International Observatory Conference in Glasgow, Scotland, Dr. Rob Mark (PASCAL LCN Director), Dr. Connie Watson (LearnLong Institute of Education and Learning Research), and Dr. Maria Liu Wong (LearnLong / City Seminary of New York) convened the first meeting for interested parties in July 2016 at City Seminary of New York (New York City).

This began the formation of an international network of scholars and practitioners interested in the intersections of faith, spirituality, and learning cities. The goal of the group is to bring together like-minded scholars and practitioners around topics (eg. interfaith engagement, religious education, arts and spirituality, inclusivity and faith in the city) for collaboration and research, to share resources and publication / funding opportunities, and to raise awareness of the role of faith/ spirituality in learning cities initiatives and development (eg. EcCoWell 2.0).

In 2017, we held another gathering for interested parties in May at City Seminary, drawing participants, amongst others, from nearby Teachers College's Spirituality, Mind, Body Institute and the Interfaith Center. A panel featuring Dr. Leodis Scott (LearnLong / DePaul University), Dr. Connie Watson, and Dr. Maria Liu Wong provided an overview of "learning cities" and the role of faith / spirituality in lifelong learning in cities at the local level. The group engaged in an experiential activity in the neighborhood, and closed at the Walls-Ortiz Gallery and Center with a networking reception.

In August 2017, another meeting was convened, coinciding with a visit from Dr. Rob Mark. This gathering began the work of organizing group members around like-minded interests, and raised interest from our colleagues in Scotland and Israel. Additional introductory in-person gatherings were held by Dr. Maria Liu Wong and Dr. Connie Watson at the UNESCO Learning Cities Conference in Cork, Ireland (October) and PASCAL International Observatory Conference in Pretoria, South Africa (November) to spread the word about the network. This piqued the interest of colleagues in Australia, Israel, South Africa, and Botswana.

A Skype meeting was organized by Dr. Margaret Sutherland (University of Glasgow) in November 2017, with the addition of members from England and the US (New Jersey and others in New York), and the formal organizational work began. In addition to the blog on this site, Dr. Maria Liu Wong created an online repository via Google drive for group members with a directory, learning cities and faith/spirituality resources, meeting agendas/minutes, and a blog rotation schedule for monthly postings. In anticipation of our recent Zoom gathering in March 2018, Dr. Margaret Sutherland stepped up to replace Dr. Connie Watson as co-chair with Maria, and Rev. Dr. Jane Huber (Union Theological Seminary) volunteered to help coordinate communications around the blog and meetings.

Our last meeting in March 2018 was led by Dr. Maria Liu Wong and despite some technical challenges, we were able to welcome Dr. Qi Sun (University of Kentucky; co-editor of Adult Education Quarterly) to the group. The group discussed the formation of special interest groups (SIGs) around topics via the online directory and Google drive, as well as finalizing the monthly blog rotation. All group members will be added to the PASCAL LCN list serve in order to receive updates on PASCAL-related postings and events.

For 2018, we anticipate another Zoom meeting to continue the dialogue around research and funding opportunities in May/June, as well as in-person gatherings at the upcoming PASCAL International Observatory Conferce in Suwon, Korea (August 30 - September 1) and a "Global Learning Cities" pre-conference meeting at the International Transformative Learning Conference 2018 at Teachers College, Columbia University (New York City; November 7-10, 2018).

For those interested in joining the group, please contact Dr. Maria Liu Wong ([email protected]) or Dr. Margaret Sutherland ([email protected]).

For those interested in contributing to the group blog rotation, please contact Rev. Dr. Jane Huber ([email protected]).

For those interested in submitting a proposal to the upcoming "Global Learning Cities" pre-conference meeting (linking learning cities with the field of transformative learning theory), please contact [email protected]. The updated call for proposals is also attached.