John Tibbitt, PASCAL Vice-chair for policy engagement, contributed to a recent study visit to Glasgow by Mayors from the cities around Tampere in Finland.  The focus for much of the visit, hosted by the European Policies Research Centre (EPRC) at Strathclyde University, was on the effective use of European Structural Funds.

A PIE stimulus paper on New York, "A City of Neighbourhoods" is now available on the PIE web site. The paper was written by Peter Kearns, the Co-director of PIE, based on research and discussions during a visit to New York in April to stay with family who live in one of the historic neighbourhoods of New York.

Newfoundland has an interesting geological history since the western part of the island is an extension of North America and the eastern portion was once part of northern Africa. The province is affectionately known as “The Rock”, as the last glaciation scoured the soil off most of the island. Newfoundland joined Canada in 1949, an action that remains controversial to this day.

Given the interests of PIE in Healthy Cities and the emphasis that Peter Kearns has made concerning this facet of the learning city within the EcCoWell model, and the strand of interest that we are trying to develop for the 11th PASCAL Conference in Hong Kong, this event in Glasgow may be of considerable interest to subscribers. We invite you to take a look at City Health 2013 in Glasgow from 4-5 November, which has many overlaps with the interests of PASCAL. 

On May 19th, 2013, Mayor Greg Fischer of Louisville introduced the Dalai Lama to a crowd of more than 15,000 in Louisville, KY. During the event, Mayor Fischer spoke about Louisville's Compassionate City campaign, reported that the city had signed the Charter for Compassion, and described how people from all walks of life have come together to awaken compassion in every aspect of life. 

A particularly inspiring moment came when the Dalai Lama said…