As the year 2020 comes to a close, I wish to thank you all for your interest in and actions to promote lifelong learning across the globe. I thank the UNESCO Institute for Lifelong Learning’s partners for their outstanding collaboration over the past twelve months.

Together, we have risen to the challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic, and have found innovative and creative ways of reinforcing the provision of lifelong learning opportunities for all, despite the harsh environment. While the pandemic has had devastating impacts on education, economies and societies around the world, it has also forced us to explore new learning modalities, and underlined the tremendous importance of lifelong learning.

Looking forward, I am confident that we can draw on these lessons and take the pandemic as a further, urgent call to make a holistic vision of lifelong learning into a reality.

This final UIL Bulletin of 2020 provides you with information about the UIL Governing Board meeting, a number of webinars hosted by the UNESCO Global Network of Learning Cities, and the new publications we have in store for you.

Wishing you a good read and, above all, a peaceful and happy holiday season!

David Atchoarena

17 December 2020 version française versión en español Dear readers, As the year 2020 comes to a close, I wish to thank you all for your interest in and actions to promote lifelong learning across the globe. I thank the UNESCO Institute for Lifelong Learning’s partners for their outstanding collaboration over the past twelve months. Together, we have risen to the challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic, and have found innovative and creative ways of reinforcing the provision of lifelong learning opportunities for all, despite the harsh environment. While the pandemic has had devastating impacts on education, economies and societies around the world, it has also forced us to explore new learning modalities, and underlined the tremendous importance of lifelong learning. Looking forward, I am confident that we can draw on these lessons and take the pandemic as a further, urgent call to make a holistic vision of lifelong learning into a reality. This final UIL Bulletin of 2020 provides you with information about the UIL Governing Board meeting, a number of webinars hosted by the UNESCO Global Network of Learning Cities, and the new publications we have in store for you. Wishing you a good read and, above all, a peaceful and happy holiday season! David Atchoarena UNESCO Global Network of Learning Cities The UNESCO learning city of Yeonsu-gu (Republic of Korea) will host the fifth International Conference on Learning Cities in autumn 2021. The event will welcome education experts and representatives of the 229 members of the UNESCO GNLC to deliberate on the conference theme ‘Global health education and emergency response’. Learn more. On 3 and 4 December 2020, members of the UNESCO Global Network of Learning Cities met virtually to share best practices, insights, progress and challenges with regard to learning for health and well-being. Organized by the cities of Cork (Ireland) and Osan (Republic of Korea) and supported by UIL, the event brought together city representatives from across the globe with high-level speakers such as the Prime Minister of Ireland. Watch the presentations In September 2020, 54 new members joined the UNESCO Global Network of Learning Cities. Every month, one of these cities will be featured in the UIL Bulletin. This month, the spotlight is on Vantaa (Finland): ‘We want to turn Vantaa into a sustainable city where no one is left behind. The UNESCO Global Network of Learning Cities offers a fine chance to learn new ways to develop lifelong learning’, says Mayor Ritva Viljanen. View her full statement. Citizenship education headed the agenda on 12 and 13 November 2020 during a virtual meeting of UNESCO learning cities across the globe. The event was organized by the UNESCO learning cities of Larissa (Greece) and Yeonsu-Gu (Republic of Korea), and supported by UIL. Over 200 participants followed the presentations online. Learn more about the outcomes   On 21 October 2020, the UNESCO Institute for Lifelong Learning (UIL), together with the PASCAL International Observatory (European Centre at the University of Glasgow), hosted the fourth in a series of webinars on ‘Learning Cities’ COVID-19 recovery: From research to practice’, the focus of which was on challenges to Education for Sustainable Development (ESD). Learn more. Governance On 25 and 26 November, the Governing Board of the UNESCO Institute for Lifelong Learning met virtually to review the Institute’s work over the past year and adopt its work plan and budget for 2021. Learn more. Ms Cláudia Costin, Director of the Center for Excellence and Innovation of Education Policies in Brazil, joined the UIL Governing Board in November 2020. Read our interview with her to learn about the challenges Brazil faces in making lifelong learning in Brazil a reality – and the support UIL can offer. Read the interview. Literacy Members of RAMAA (Action Research: Measuring Literacy Programme Participants’ Learning Outcomes) met in December to promote capacity development measures in 12 sub-Saharan francophone countries. Learn more. UIL Policy Brief 12 UIL Policy Brief 13 COVID-19 issue notes Discover our issue notes covering key topics related to the COVID-19 education response, such as distance learning, family learning, and more. Sign up for the bi-monthly ALADIN Online Alert to receive open access documents on adult learning, adult literacy, lifelong learning, and technical and vocational education and training! Explore our databases LITBASE: LITERACY CASE STUDIES WORLDWIDE LIFELONG LEARNING POLICIES DATABASE RECOGNITION, VALIDATION AND ACCREDITATION UNESCO GLOBAL NETWORK OF LEARNING CITIES' MEMBERS International Review of Education Academic conferencing in the age of COVID-19 and climate crisis: The case of the Comparative and International Education Society (CIES) The impact of lockdown on the learning gap: family and school divisions in times of crisis On the fly: Adapting quickly to emergency remote instruction in a family literacy programme External articles Commentary: It took a while but Singaporean workers are finally embracing lifelong learning cna The evolution of global education and 5 trends emerging amidst COVID-19 World Economic Forum Investing in women and girls: How governments can drive inclusive recovery World Bank Blogs Copyright © 2020 UNESCO Institute for Lifelong Learning, All rights reserved.