Colleagues may be interested in this interview on the Royal Society for the encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce (RSA) website. The discussion features Dr Benjamin Barber, the American political theorist whose forthcoming book - If Mayors Ruled The World - will argue that mayors are the people to get things done on an international scale, emphasising the growing importance of cities.

Powerful social movements have emerged and continue to deepen and expand over the past several months.  In India the movement against violence against women and for a new relationship between men and women has grown out of the outrage towards the brutal rape and mindless assault of the young woman in New Delhi and has found resonance around the world.

This paper analyzes the social background including the factors of history, economy and population, and the huge demands for a learning society. It makes a brief review of the indigenous efforts and achievements from six aspects of construction a learning society in Shanghai. Finally based on a theoretical analytic framework it gives reflection on Shanghai’s experience through four perspectives, i.e. learning value, learning system integration, driving force mechanism, and learning function.

Those of you from Canada who receive these notes will be aware of the #Idlenomore (Idle No More) grassroots social movement started by four Indigenous women from Saskatchewan which has spread like wildfire across Canada through social networks and word of mouth organizing by Indigenous women and youth.  Others of you from other parts of the world will not have heard about this I expect. #Idlenomore supports a hunger strike by Chief Teresa Spence of the Attiwapiskat First Nations on the shores of the Hudson Bay in Northern Ontario.

Dear Friends,

As the new Chair of PASCAL, I want to wish each of you a happy holiday season - be it in the darker and wetter north or the warmer and sunnier south. The new year  brings with it  great prospects for our collaboration.  There is a vacuum for PASCAL to fill.  The 2012 conference in Brest was demonstration, if proof were needed, that our mission is timely, evidence-based, and forward-loooking. Tragically, Jarl Bengtsson died just at the time when we could celebrate the ten years of leadership he has given PASCAL. (An obituary will appear on the website soon). His wise counsel and good humor will be missed, but his values - our values - endure.  In some ways 2013 could be more difficult, globally, than 2012: the geo-political situation along the 30th parallel North is even more fraught with risk, and the long-term social consequences of the crisis will become more apparent.  Let's  bring the expertise and enthusiasm of PASCAL as a global network to bear on policy and practice, to develop the  Observatory and generate new projects.   

May you and your families enjoy continued good health.  With best wishes,

Josef Konvitz