The Hume Learning City Library at Craigieburn has been  named the International Public Library of the Year by the International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions at the World Library and Information Congress in Lyon France.Craigieburn is the second Global Learning Centre developed by Hume City Council in Melbourne Australia with the LIbrary the centrepiece of the Centre.

The Chairman of the PASCAL Governing Board, Dr Josef Konvitz, issued the following statement today on the inauguration of the new program of Learning Cities Networks, a PASCAL Learning Cities 2020 project:

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".

A Science of Learning Research Centre has been established in the Queensland Brain Institute located in the University of Queensland.  The Centre combines research from neuroscience, education, advanced imaging and psychology to advance learning from preschool to all phases of lifelong learning.

The city of Cork recently hosted an international conference to follow up the initiative by the city to explore how the EcCoWell ideas developed by PASCAL under the PIE program might be implemented in Cork. EcCoWell  is directed at holistic and integrated approaches to city development that progress beyond the silos often found in cities.

The Irish Minister for Research and Innovation, Sean Sherlock, spoke at the conference and offered comment on the EcCoWell aspiration.  Closing remarks at the conference were given by Pat Ledwidge. The text of both addresses are available below and attached.