ALCN report on the 2018 PASCAL Conference in Suwon - 30 August to 1 September, 2018

The conference was attended by over 500 delegates including a large international delegation from many countries in Asia, North America, Europe and Australia. I accompanied a delegation from Al Wakra City in Qatar. The Qatar delegation were the only representatives from the Middle East.

The conference was co-organised and hosted by the Gyeonggi Do Provincial Institute for Lifelong Learning (GILL) and the Korean Academic Society for Lifelong Education from 30 August -1 September, 2018 in Suwon City, Gyeonggi Province.
Gyeonggi Province is a leader in Lifelong Learning Education in Korea, with the highest number of lifelong learning cities. The conference was also supported by the Korean National Institute for Lifelong Education, Korean National Commission for UNESCO, and the Korean Society for the Study of Lifelong Education.

Keynote Speakers

Professor Shirley Walters, University of Western Cape, South Africa and Professor HAN Soonghee, Seoul National University, Republic of Korea.

The two keynote speakers on Day One were stimulating and raised a number of challenges, particularly in relation climate change, that for citizens of nations but within a global context, are becoming more urgent. This included:

• The 4th Industrial Revolution is coming and we must learn to adapt;
• Resources are limited but we have unlimited human desire for more;
• We must stop being a throw away society;
• What about a no growth future?
• We must use our collective wisdom to create sustainable futures.

How can learning cities in Korea and elsewhere engage with these issues? It comes back to a lifelong learning orientation – individually, collectively, for organisations and society and it is lifelong, life-wide and life-deep. We must reinforce hope with scientific rigour.

To paraphrase Nelson Mandela Learning is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world.

The full report is featured below and attached...