A scheme that could see cities around the world aspiring to the title of Learning Cities is to be launched by UNESCO in October.

Speaking at the GUNI 6th International Conference on Higher Education held in Barcelona last week, Michael Osborne, professor of adult and lifelong learning at Glasgow University in the UK, said universities would have a major role to play in this.

“A Learning City is a city which has mobilised all its educational resources – from the formal and the non-formal side – to create an underlying infrastructure of coordinated learning,” Osborne said.

He is one of a group of experts advising the UNESCO Institute for Lifelong Learning on the project.

The scheme will include formal programmes by universities and other education institutes but also less formal opportunities for learning such as those offered by libraries or museums.

The process of gaining such a distinction will push cities and, within that, universities, to map the educational provision they have and see where there may be gaps or duplication.

This could provide visibility to cities looking to attract inward investment by highlighting educational provision and research capacity.

It could also mobilise players to push for more socially inclusive education by ensuring that “there is a range of education for all types of citizen – something for everyone, with progression routes", said Osborne.

Helsinki, Windhoek, Beijing and a major city in Brazil are among the first group to participate in a pilot to test the indicators of what constitutes a Learning City. Further details will be announced at a UNESCO conference in Beijing in mid-October.

Source: World University News.