A team of 7 delegates represented the Learning Limerick group at the 2016 PASCAL Conference in Glasgow, 3-5 June, contributing both Paper and Showcase presentations. The Learning Limerick members taking part came from the PAUL Partnership (Local Development Company for Limerick City), Limerick City and County Council, Limerick and Clare Education and Training Board (LCETB), and the Limerick Integration Working Group. The conference provided the team from Limerick with an excellent opportunity to share ideas and experience and to further our links with international partners.  Two of the Limerick delegates, Yvonne Lane and Anna Rooney, also attended the Pre-Conference Networking Day.

The team from Limerick was led by the Deputy Chief Executive of Limerick City and County Council, Pat Dowling, who introduced Yvonne and Anna giving Learning Limerick’s Showcase presentation.  This presentation highlighted the work of the group, including the Lifelong Leaning Festival which has grown to now include over 200 enjoyable, fun learning events over the week and a hugely popular Thomond Park flagship event including 40 over interactive learning activities. We are firm ‘Festival Friends’ with Cork Lifelong Learning Festival  having first visited their festival 2011; and really value this collaboration and all the experience that Cork has shared with us.

The Showcase highlighted the development of Learning Limerick– with the Limerick City of Learning Steering Group established originally as a sub-group of the City Development Board (CDB) in 2002.  The “Limerick Declaration” – on Learning Cities & Regions wasalso adopted at the PASCAL European Network of Lifelong Learning Regions (PENR3L) Conference in the University of Limerick in 2008.

Several City Showcase presentations demonstrated interaction between learning cities and their surrounding region. This is a key area of work for Limerick with the expansion of the membership of Learning Limerick since 2013 to include both City and County partners. We work together in the promotion of learning and also examining some of the particular issues for engaging learners in rural Limerick.

Mary Hamilton delivered the parallel session paper at the conference profiling Limerick: - ‘From Learning City to Learning Region: The Power of Connections’ Mary’s case study explored how these connections have played a vital role in our journey towards becoming a “learning city-region” at a time of great change.  It also provided best practice examples of these connections in Limerick mapping them to UNESCO’s Key Features of Learning Cities.

Speaking at the conference, Pat Dowling, Deputy Chief Executive said: - ‘The Limerick City and County Council continues to be committed to supporting the Learning Limerick group and is delighted to be linking with partners internationally and that the goal of Limerick becoming a City and County Region of Learning – a region full of opportunities is progressing – this is a hugely exciting time for Limerick!’.

Congratulations to Michael Osborne and your team and to all of the University of Glasgow on a hugely worthwhile conference!   We are looking forward to continuing links with many of the cities attending; and we continue to see great synergies locally in the strategies for our Region with Cork. We also look forward to continuing to link closely with many of the member cities of the UNESCO Global Network of Learning Cities (GNLC) which we are currently joining.

We would also like to thank Peter Kearns for all his support and encouragement for us in Limerick in developing our thinking and strategy for becoming a Learning Region and expanding our work out to include Limerick County. Peter’s visit and keynote address to us during the Limerick Lifelong Learning Festival in 2013 really provided the impetus for us to further develop our practice and to become more actively involved as a partner in PASCAL. (joining the PASCAL International Exchanges (PIE) in 2013.) We have been a member of the Learning Cities Networks (LCN, 2014 – 2016) and are looking forward to contributing and learning from our international partners during the Learning Cities Networks 2 program!

Yvonne Lane
Lifelong Learning Facilitator

A selection of photos featuring the Limerick delegation to the 2016 PASCAL Conference, 3-5 June, Glasgow

(click any image for full-screen slideshow)