Norman Longworth has long been a leading thinker and writer in the field of lifelong learning and learning cities, and has contributed much. The recent riots in England have prompted much discussion of social trends in England, and what is seen by many as a weakening of social bonds and connections, and a weakening of social, moral, and human capital in cities with growing inequality and exclusion.

Here is a timely and thought provoking piece from PASCAL Associate John Field.  Noting that despite the controversial law and order response of the Thatcher government to the riots of 1981, there were nevertheless some important educational initiatives taken in the following months.  John Field explores some ideas for further iniatives which could be pursued in response to the situation in England now,  which range over reviews of the funding for learning,  a fresh look at young men's education, and the potential for ad

“Six” (below) is a revised draft of part of a literary experiment titled “Toward the Building of Times Future.”  It bears particularly on the PASCAL theme of employment creation.  It does not say anything I have not already said in previously published and mostly unread works, but it tries to say the same things over again in an engaging and accessible manner.   The text implies without being so obnoxious as to come out and say so that most anti-poverty programs are doomed to failure because their proponents do not understand Premise One:  Keynes was right and neocl

Martin Yarnit

A common problem with books based on academic conferences is that the contributors, in their enthusiasm for their own specialist theme, sometimes seem indifferent to the big issues.  Longworth and Osborne, tireless toilers for the concept of the learning city and region, pinpoint a vital truth that they, almost alone amongst the contributors to Perspectives on Learning Cities and Regions[1] are preoccupied with:

Engagement between universities and communities acquired a different dimension last week with the launch of the first summit of the Asia-Pacific University-Community Engagement Network (APUCEN) by Deputy Higher Education Minister Datuk Saifuddin Abdullah.