George Osborne from Hume at 9th Lifelong Learning Festival in Cork

I have enjoyed an extraordinary time in Cork visiting a range of activities from their Lifelong Learning Festival (Féile Buan Foghlama) as well as guiding a discussion with council staff regarding EcCoWell. The festival, which was opened by the President of Ireland, Mary McAleese, is a substantial and remarkable expression of positive community engagement during a very difficult time for Ireland. With more than 400 events, and well promoted by a professional 60 page program the festival is substantial, well embedded in the community and fully embraced by the City. An innovation this year was to include a seminar on day 1, which was attended by Irish Government Minister Sean Sherlock, TD Minister of State (who commented that he had been motivated by the brain food at the seminar for government discussion), Martin Power from University of Limerick (who shared research insights on community reactions to adult learning) and myself discussing the lessons learned from the Hume Global Learning Village.

Tina Neylon, the Festival Co-ordinator, is clearly very highly regarded in the community and is a powerhouse, well supported by the festival committee members. Tina  along with other organisers Willie McAuliffe and Dennis Barret are already planning for the 10^th anniversary festival in 2013, and I strongly commend this to you as an opportunity to observe at first hand a world class learning event! I have sown some ideas about a more prominent role from PASCAL in recognition of this achievement, perhaps with10 Learning Cities celebrating the 10th Anniversary. Tina will be keen to discuss this further.

Regarding the EcCoWell Cities discussion, I met with several council staff representing Learning Festival, Health Services Executive and Cork Environmental Forum and a representative from University College Cork. We considered the paper for nearly 2 hours, and carefully reviewed the idea of a joined up approach to these issues. Comments were made such as "this is music to my ears", and "this needs to be considered by the City Development Board". There was consensus that a more formal presentation on EcCoWell be made to the Cork Development Board (CDB), which consists of Heads of Agencies and develops the city strategic plan.  University College Cork may get involved through their ISS 21 unit (Institute for Social Science in the 21st Century). Jim Donovan a senior manager was keen to get this on the CDB agenda as they are about to develop their new plan and this could be a great framework to guide their thinking. As they were so enthusiastic I took the liberty of suggesting the Michael Osborne may be well placed to visit Cork to present to the CDB, and perhaps also deliver a presentation to the Learning Community. There was great enthusiasm for this possibility. Interest is now also being shown from Dublin and Limerick! 

I feel there is enormous potential in Cork for further development of the Learning City, consideration of EcCoWell and planning for a significant 10th Anniversary of their most wonderful festival. I leave you with some questions to be considered –

-          In a period of economic downturn and associated challenges with social inclusion, could this indeed be a “Learning Led Recovery” of community spirit for the City of Cork?!

-          Does this lend strength to the proposal that the key to success in the 21^st Century is the ability to learn, unlearn and relearn in a continuous cycle?

-          Will you be there in 2013?

George Osborne attended the 2012 Cork Lifelong Learning Festival as a guest of the City of Cork, seeking closer relations with Hume City and the Hume Global Learning Village and sharing learnings between both.