A highlight of the UNESCO 2^nd International Conference on Learning Cities in Mexico City was the conferring of UNESCO Learning City Awards to twelve cities who have demonstrated how they are implementing the Key Features of Learning Cities to improve the quality of people’s lives.  These cities collaborated with UIL to produce a book about their experiences - Unlocking the Potential of Urban Communities. The case study cities are:

• Melton (Australia)
• Sorocaba (Brazil)
• Beijing (China)
• Bahir Dar (Ethiopia)
• Espoo (Finland)
• Cork (Ireland)
• Amman (Jordan)
• Mexico City (Mexico)
• Ybycuí (Paraguay)
• Balanga (Philippines)
• Namyangju (Republic of Korea)
• Swansea (United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland)

PASCAL congratulates these cities on winning these awards. In particular, through the PASCAL International Exchanges (PIE) and our current program Learning Cities Networks (LCN), we are thrilled to have worked directly with three of the cities, Beijing, Cork and Swansea. Cork has also implemented PASCAL’s EcoWell Sustainable Cities Program.

The ideas on creativity, innovation, entrepreneurship, sustainability and .measuring outcomes through initiatives such as Big Data, which PASCAL has implemented over the last six years, under the leadership of Peter Kearns, complements the outcomes of UNESCO’s first International Conference on Learning Cities in Beijing and also the second International Conference on Learning Cities held recently in Mexico City. We look forward to building on this work at PASCAL’s 13^th International Conference to be held in Glasgow, June 3-5, 2016.

On a personal note, I was thrilled to witness the awarding of a UNESCO Learning City Award 2015 to the City of Melton, in Victoria, Australia. In addition, Melton’s Mayor, Cr Sophie Ramsey, was given the honour of chairing the Drafting Committee for the Mexico Declaration on Learning Cities. It has been a pleasure to work with my colleagues Peter Blunden and Ian and Dr Shanti Wong for over a decade on evaluation and research projects, including building Melton as a Learning City. The latest publications being the Melton case study for the UNESCO book, the Collective Impact Assessment Tool and the Australian Learning Community Framework and Measuring Impact Toolkit.

Melton’s Mayor, Cr Sophie Ramsey, receiving a UNESCO Learning City Award 2015 on behalf of the City of Melton

Further References:

For more information about UNESCO’s 2^nd International Conference on Learning Cities go to UIL news.

For details of how your city can apply for a UNESCO Learning Cities Award go to UIL information about the awards.

Acknowledgement: I attended the UNESCO 2^nd International Conference on Learning Cities as a PASCAL Board member. I also acknowledge the support I received from the Australian Learning Communities Network (ALCN) and the honorary membership given to me by the City of Melton delegation.

Leone Wheeler
PASCAL Content Editor