Mike Osborne's blog

Subscribers are reminded that the first Global Learning Festival being organised by Wyndham and Melton Cities runs from 1-4 September. Some 70 events across the world are available online, and PASCAL as a sponsor encourages all of you to register for one or more of these excellent programmes.

I am very pleased to report that the University of Glasgow has been asked to establish the first UNESCO Chair in Refugee Integration through Languages and the Arts. The chair holder is our colleague, Professor Alison Phipps to whom we offer our congratulations from PASCAL.

Please find featured below and attached the press release for the UNESCO programme. There is a feature on it in the press today and the BBC is working with Alison on a programme feature. An Early Day Motion is published today in Westminster Parliament congratulating the University.

On behalf of PASCAL we post below a response made by our colleague Chris Duke on the campaigning website 38 Degrees with which we are sure that PASCAL subscribers will wish to echo. We could add many more examples of terrorist acts even in the last week, such as that of the 224 Russians most likely murdered over the Sinai desert, and as Chris says our hearts are with all victims of such atrocities.

Please find featured below and attached an invitation from our good friends at the UNESCO Institute for Lifelong Learning in Hamburg to the forthcoming International Conference on Learning Cities in Mexico City from 28-30 September 2015. We strongly encourage all members of PASCAL and subscribers to consider attendance, particularly members cities and organisations of our Learning Cities Networks (LCN) program.