2013 will be a big year for international and local development of directions for learning city. These events include the launch of the UNESCO Global Learning City Network in Beijing in November or December 2013, and the 11th PASCAL International Observatory conference Cities Learning Together in Hong Kong on 18-20 November, focussed on the following theme:

Local Communities in the Sustainable and Healthy Learning City

Several meetings have already been arranged in cities participating in the PASCAL International Exchanges (PIE) to enable discussion of key aspects of future directions for learning cities, including conceptual work undertaken during 2012 on the EcCoWell concept of Sustainable Opportunity Cities in the PIE program.

Preliminary list of 2013 events related to PIE and learning cities

20 March - Cork seminar : Cities of the Future : the EcCoWell approach. This seminar will be held during the Cork Learning Festival. Peter Kearns will participate. See Visual Harvest of EcCoWell

21 March - Presentation by Peter Kearns to members of the Limerick City of Learning Steering Group : International trends in learning city development.

25 March - Seminar Strathclyde University Glasgow : Learning Cities East and West Where is the tide flowing? What are the implications?  Peter Kearns will lead the seminar.

26 March - Symposium for Adam Smith Research Foundation Cluster in Glasgow Cross-sectoral approaches to building sustainable opportunity cities. Peter Kearns to lead symposium and Dr Roberta Piazza (University of Catania) will also contribute as respondent.

27 March - Dumfries Learning Town seminar. Subject to be advised. Professor Mike Osborne (PASCAL Co-Director) will introduce and there will be presentations from Dr Jin Yang (UNESCO), Peter Kearns and Professor Roberta Piazza. See Development of a Network of Learning Cities & the Learning Cities Index

July - Special issue of International Review of Education on Learning Cities (release date to be confirmed).

26-27 September - Cork international seminar. Follow up on March seminar. Subject to be advised. Professor Michael Osborne will contribute

18-20 November - 11th PASCAL International Conference, Hong Kong: Cities Learning Together - Local Communities in the Sustainable and Healthy Learning City. The conference will include strands on environment, health and well being, social and civic aspects, economic aspects. It is being hosted by the Institute of Education, Hong Kong and organised through the Europe Centre at RMIT by Professor Chris Duke and Professor Bruce Wilson.

Contribute to PIE 2013 events

It is hoped that cities participating in PIE will  mount activities, as Cork has done, relevant to the main PIE themes under discussion during 2013, leading up to the PASCAL Hong Kong conference. Subjects could be selected from the list below. Events might be seminars, symposia, forums, etc. of a day or half day duration. Please notify me by the end of February of such events so that a revised list of 2013 PIE events can be posted on the PIE web site and circulated in early March. Any questions may be directed to me ([email protected]). Short reports of say one page on the main outcomes of PIE events for posting on the PIE web site will be most useful.

1. Building sustainable opportunity cities
2. Local communities and neighbourhoods in inclusive learning cities
3. Addressing disadvantage and exclusion in neighbourhoods
4. Enhancing environmental protection in communities and cities
5. Partnership strategies in fostering sustainability in learning cities

Peter Kearns

Co-director

PASCAL International Exchanges