A Global Movement
The practice of embedding "learning" in the culture of cities is a global one - and it's growing.
A Brief History:
The concept of a Learning City has been circulating since the 1970s, but it did not take hold until an Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) Learning Cities Conference in Gothenberg, Sweden in 1992.
This conference generated interest among a group of civic and education leaders in Britain. It also generated interest by the United Kingdom Institute for Adult and Continuing Education and, by 1995, eight cities had joined to form the Learning Cities Network (later named the Learning Communities Network): Derby, Edinburgh, Hull, Liverpool, Milton Keynes, Norwich, Nottingham, and Sheffield. By 2005, more than 50 cities in the UK had joined the Learnng Communties Network and more than 25 cities had become part of Australia's Learning Communities Network.
It is estimated that there are now more than 300 “learning communities” around the world.
PASCAL International Exchages (PIE)
The PASCAL International Exchanges (PIE) project aims to broker and support exchange, on a bilateral or multilateral basis, between local, community and city agencies and organisations in different parts of the world. Its focus is connecting those with specific missions, including neighbourhood learning centres, libraries, and cultural and heritage institutes, that make a distinctive contribution to lifelong learning and building innovative learning communities that promote the well-being and quality of life of all citizens. The Vancouver Learning City is proud to be participating in this exchange. http://pie.pascalobservatory.org
