The PASCAL seminar, “Making Learning Happen,” was well-attended by some 30 delegates from across Europe on 4 May 2018. Thanks to kind generosity of LLAKEs (http://www.llakes.ac.uk [1]) and its head, Professor Andy Green, we convened in a room at the UCL Institute of Education. The seminar provided an opportunity for associates and key contacts - new faces and old friends - to discuss learning in cities and metro-regions and their links to rural hinterlands, and to shape future PASCAL work in Europe.
Following presentations on connecting theory to practice and on the work of two of our SIGs by John Tibbit, Ilpo Laitinen, and Karl Murr, (representing the European Museums Academy (http://europeanmuseumacademy.eu [2]), and filling in for Catherine Lido and Henrik Zipsane), an open discussion brought several old – and especially new – issues to the fore. Discussion of the PASCAL Learning City Network was led by Rob Mark, and roundtable discussions by Roberta Piazza and John Tibbitt. In the afternoon Mike Osborne led a discussion on funding opportunities and future arrangements concerning structures of PASCAL
- Tourism – raised by Jin Chan of the University of Greenwich, connected with many in the room: how to manage the impact of tourism in cities, how to engage tourists in learning, etc.;
- Civic engagement – how to manage participation, handle tensions, build capacity;
- Ageing and the growing population of people over 60/65 – specific programmes adapted to their needs and interests as part of life-long learning;
- Connecting universities and schools.
These topics and issues deserve to be integrated into the Learning Cities work, including one or more future SIGs.
Josef konvitz