Learning cities are challenged by a turbulent environment in which a number of mega changes have interacted to produce an uncertain future. While the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic is centre stage, the looming impacts of ageing populations and the transition to a longevity society, and the impact on jobs of the technologies of the fourth industrial revolution, including artificial intelligence, have combined to challenge the foundations of our current society.

The pace of change, combined with uncertainty about the future, means that people are confronted by the imperative to adapt to change and continue learning throughout life in the emerging context of permanent transition.

UNESCO has recognised this imperative and has established the Futures of Education initiative to encourage people to reimagine knowledge, education, and learning in this turbulent environment. As a contribution to this initiative, the UNESCO  Institute for Lifelong Learning has produced a paper titled Embracing a culture of lifelong learning which provides a vision of a future where a culture of lifelong learning underpins a just and sustainable society.

This vision merits widespread discussion and opens the question of how learning cities and partners can progress from their present situation on a path to build a culture of lifelong learning throughout society.

This paper is a response to this question based on the thesis that building a sustainable learning culture should be a creative learning process, involving many stakeholders, and directed at clear strategic objectives in a number of stages. The paper draws on my experience with learning cities in Australia, and internationally through the networks of the PASCAL International Observatory, particularly the EcCoWell initiative directed at integrated, holistic development that I founded, with the 2020 EcCoWell Community Recovery Program as the latest iteration.