In the face of increasing social inequality, migration, social exclusion and declining social mobility the concept of social cohesion now features prominently in discourse about communities both in academic literature and in social policy debates, yet despite its widespread use by academics, policy-makers and public officials, it is a concept whose succinct definition remains elusive.

On Thursday, 19th October 2023, Swansea University hosted a Leverhulme Lecture titled “Pedagogical Capabilities in Islam to Create, Maintain and Develop Justice-oriented Learning Cities”. The lecture was presented by Nematollah Azizi, a Leverhulme Professor at the University of Glasgow and a faculty member at the University of Kurdistan in Iran. This visit was organized by Swansea University, along the International PASCAL Observatory collaboration, where Swansea Learning City and Swansea University are active members and were happy to host Professor Azizi as their guest from their partner University of Glasgow.  The lecture by Professor Azizi aimed to explore the role of Islamic pedagogical capabilities in creating and maintaining justice-oriented learning cities.