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Dear readers,
This month’s issue of the UNESCO Institute for Lifelong Learning (UIL) Bulletin spotlights the fifth International Conference on Learning Cities, which took place from 27 to 30 October 2021 in Yeonsu, Republic of Korea. More than 1,500 participants from across the globe came together in person and online to explore new strategies to strengthen learning for health and to reaffirm their commitment to fostering lifelong learning opportunities for all.
In this issue you will also find information about the latest publications from UIL on themes including remote learning in rural areas, open and distance learning, and inclusive learning in cities, information about the newly released UNESCO report Reimagining our futures together: A new social contract for education, and much more.
Wishing you a good read!
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Fifth International Conference on Learning Cities
With the adoption of the Yeonsu Declaration at the fifth International Conference on Learning Cities (ICLC 5), UNESCO learning cities from around the world pledged to place lifelong learning for health and resilience at the centre of their agendas. In the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, more than 1,500 conference participants – mayors, further city representatives and experts – committed to strengthening local learning initiatives and strategies for health. |
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"We need to go beyond the realm of learning simply to acquire knowledge and, instead, promote learning that makes citizens’ lives healthy and lays the foundation for sustainable lifelong learning.”
Nam-Seok Ko
Mayor of Yeonsu, Republic of Korea |
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"We need to create a cultural climate that allows lifelong learning for everyone in the world.”
Ban Ki-Moon
Former Secretary-General of the United Nations |
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The biennial UNESCO Learning City Award is bestowed on cities that have demonstrated outstanding achievements in lifelong learning
This year’s award ceremony took place on the first day of the ICLC 5 in Yeonsu (Republic of Korea). The award recipients – 10 cities whose learning city implementation strategies were deemed exceptional – are proof that empowering urban citizens of all ages is possible when robust lifelong learning policies and programmes are put into practice.
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“This year’s UNESCO Learning City Award reciptients have helped their communities to adapt to a rapidly changing world and acquire the necessary knowledge to solve global challenges as informed citizens. Through lifelong learning, these cities pave the way for fairer, more just and sustainable societies and a better future for us all!”
David Atchoarena
Director, UNESCO Institute for Lifelong Learning |
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| Meet the laureates! Spotlight on Belfast and Shanghai |
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Shanghai, People's Republic of China
Shanghai’s long-standing commitment to the learning city concept has resulted in a model characterized by ‘government promotion, department collaboration, social support and citizen participation’ and the provision of numerous lifelong learning opportunities for the its 24.8 million residents.
Learn more in our multimedia story |
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Belfast, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland
Belfast promotes learning to address inequalities and improve citizens’ daily lives. Under the auspices of its Learning Charter, the city implements a range of learning programmes, while its annual Festival of Learning plays host to an exciting array of learning opportunities and helps to instil a culture of lifelong learning.
Learn more in our multimedia story |
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| International Conference on Learning Cities Publications |
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An estimated USD$17 billion in additional funding is needed to achieve universal literacy in the 29 countries of the Global Alliance for Literacy (GAL)
On International Literacy Day 2021 (8 September), UIL called on the international community to increase funding and political will in order to ensure that all youth and a substantial proportion of adults achieve literacy and numeracy, as enshrined in the UN Sustainable Development Goals.
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UIL calls for leveraging technological innovations for lifelong learning at the EdTech Korea Forum 2021
Leveraging technological innovation to the benefit of lifelong learning opportunities for all youth and adults is vital. That was the key message of the policy sessions organized by UIL, together with the UNESCO Asia and Pacific Regional Bureau for Education (UNESCO Bangkok) and the Korea Education and Research Information Service (KERIS) during the EdTech Korea Forum on 16 September 2021.
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Just published: Issue note on promoting technology-enabled education and skills development in rural and remote areas of Central Asia
UIL, UNESCO Bangkok and the UNESCO Almaty Office have jointly published a new issue note, Promoting Technology-Enabled Education and Skills Development in Rural and Remote Areas of Central Asia. It explores the realities and challenges of technology-enabled education in the four Central Asian countries of Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan.
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A new social contract for education The Futures of Education report calls for a new social contract for education. In his latest blog post, UIL Director David Atchoarena writes that the report is a chance to depart from our current ‘unsustainable path’ in education, and build new relationships, with each other, with the planet, and with technology. He calls on all partners to contribute to making the new social contract for education come alive and extend the right to education to a right to lifelong learning.
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Capacity-building workshop on national lifelong learning policy development begins
The capacity-building workshop ‘Strengthening education systems from a lifelong learning perspective’ kicked off on 8 November 2021. Co-organized by UIL and Shanghai Open University (SOU), the workshop brings together more than 50 stakeholders. Government representatives, policy-makers and representatives of lifelong learning institutions from Lao People’s Democratic Republic, Mongolia, the Republic of Kazakhstan and Uganda, as well as representatives of open universities in the People’s Republic of China, are taking part.
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“We need to keep on learning to live in a complex society and world. In Lao People’s Democratic Republic, we have recognized lifelong learning as a priority!”
H.E. Phout Simmalavong
Minister of Education and Sports, Lao PDR
Full video statement |
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UIL Blog 'Part of the solution: Lifelong learning and climate action'
The United Nations COP26 climate conference is an opportunity not only to galvanize political leadership but also to reflect on the role of education and the contribution of lifelong learning to climate action, writes Paul Stanistreet, Head of Knowledge Management and Communications at the UNESCO Institute for Lifelong Learning.
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Webinar: Making adult learning and education visible within lifelong learning
On 30 November 2021, UIL will host a webinar, ‘Making adult learning and education visible within lifelong learning. Strengthening non-formal education for individual, social system-level transformation’ as part of the fifth UNESCO Forum on Transformative Education for Sustainable Development, Global Citizenship, Health and Well-being.
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Education experts from nine Arab countries enrolled in online course co-hosted by UIL
From 15 September to 30 November 2021, 35 participants from nine Arab countries are learning how to strengthen alternative and non-formal education for youth and adults in Education Sector Plans. They are taking part in an online course offered by UIL together with the UNESCO Beirut Office and the UNESCO International Institute for Educational Planning (IIEP).
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Participants of a CONFINTEA VII consultation for the Asia and Pacific region call for a strengthened adult learning and education ecosystem
The Asia and Pacific region needs a strengthened ecosystem conducive to adult learning and education. This was one of the key messages that emerged from the Asia and Pacific regional consultation hosted by the UNESCO Bangkok Office in cooperation with UIL on 22 September.
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Inclusive lifelong learning in cities: Policies and practices for vulnerable
On 29 October, UIL’s publication, Inclusive Lifelong Learning in Cities: Policies and Practices for Vulnerable Groups, was launched at a book fair as part of the fifth International Conference on Learning Cities (ICLC 5) celebrations in Yeonsu, Republic of Korea. The collection of papers by leading education experts presents conceptual frameworks for inclusive learning, good practices in learning cities and recommendations for the future.
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L'Éducation en prison : Revue de littérature francophone (Education in prison: A review of French literature)
Approximately 11 million people are incarcerated worldwide. Many prisons are therefore overcrowded and at crisis point, unable to provide inmates with the educational opportunities that are their human right. To identify current trends, progress, and challenges in prison education on a global level, UIL has published L’Éducation en prison: Revue de littérature francophone, a review of French literature on the subject.
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The October issue of the International Review of Education – Journal of Lifelong Learning marks the centenary of educator Paulo Freire’s birth. Freire’s ideas about freedom and liberation, and the relation between reflection and action in education, continue to inspire and provoke 50 years on from the publication of his seminal work, Pedagogy of the Oppressed. Education that enables people to engage critically with the world around them and that brings with it the prospect of social change is desperately needed right now. A number of the articles in the publication address these or related themes, and some invoke Freire directly.
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