A new international standard known as “ISO 37120” lays out 46 measures that cities on any continent can measure their performance by:

The present publication is one of the outcomes of the OBSERVAL-NET project (follow-up of the OBSERVAL project). The main aim of OBSERVAL-NET was to set up a stakeholder-centric network of organisations supporting the validation of non-formal and informal learning in Europe based on the formation of national working groups in the 8 participating countries of the project. Each national working group worked towards bringing together key stakeholders in VNIL and political decision-makers at national level in order to coordinate policy implementation in the field.

Professor Mike Osborne, Co-Director of PASCAL, visited the University of Southern Queensland (USQ) in Toowoomba, Australia on 13 May. During his visit he spoke to university staff and community representatives about the GUNi Report Higher Education in the World Report 5: Knowledge, Engagement and Higher Education: Contributing to Social Change and took the opportunity to launch this report in Australia.

Barcelona has been selected as the first European Capital of Innovation "for introducing the use of new technologies to bring the city closer to citizens. The new Capital of Innovation award looks at the outstanding achievements of cities building up an innovation ecosystem "ie a system which links the citizens (People) with a built environment (Place) and public organisations and policy makers (Public) and through business (Private). The award went to Barcelona for "introducing the use of new technologies to bring the city closer to citizens".

Don’t miss the next webinar in the new Social Capital series from the Association of Public and Land-grant Universities (APLU)! On Thursday, May 15, at 2pm Eastern, Jim Woodell (Asst VP, Innovation and Technology Policy) will talk with Linda Kawano of Cantu Designs, Neil Kane of Illinois Partners and Northern Illinois University, and Steve Tello of the University of Massachusetts Lowell.