Notes from the ninth meeting of the PASCAL Learning Cities Networks “Reimagining Inclusive Economic Futures” (RIEF) on 7 July, 2021

Attendees: Annie Tubadji, Swansea University; Mike Osborne, Director of PASCAL ; Leone Wheeler, Lead for the Australian Learning Cities Network and PASCAL Board Member; Annina Martin, Education Department of Glasgow City Council; Jac Torres Gomez, Wyndham learning City and joint lead for the Global Learning Festival; Kristiina Erkkilä, Espoo Learning City and lead for the RIEF Entrepreneurial Learning Theme.

Apologies: Judith James, Chris Shepherd, Palmira and Robertus Jucevicienne, Rob Mark, Michelle Murphy.

Annie Tubadji chaired the meeting and introduced Annina Martin, a new member of the group representing the Education Department of Glasgow City Council. She has recently joined the Council and will be part of the UNESCO working group, which has Glasgow Council, Strathclyde University, Glasgow University, Glasgow Life and Vocational College members. The group are finalising their UNESCO Learning City development plan, will submit their progress report later this year and are planning to apply for the Award in 2023. 

Glasgow is a vibrant city but also has challenges, with 34% of children living in poverty and a range of inequalities. The Glasgow Learning City is aiming for more inclusivity through connected learning and digital inclusion.  They have installed Wi-Fi across all educational establishments and distributed 58,000 iPads to schools, so that there are shared iPads in years P1 -P6 and single use for children in years P7 and secondary classes.

Annie then introduced Lara Pugh, another new member representing Wollongong Learning City, Australia. Wollongong is south of Sydney and is in the early stages of laying the foundations for a Learning City. Lara works in a Library and has previously worked in schools and H.E. She spoke about Jenny Thomson, the Learning City project sponsor, who values LLL for the role it can play in capacity building and sustainable development for Wollongong. Wollongong Council has recently approved a business proposal to develop the Learning City over the next three years, funding a post.

Wollongong is taking the slow road, with a 3-year plan to develop the LC and already a member of the Australian Learning Cities Network. In the first year they will be working internally. They have established a working group with 20 members from across the Council. Currently they are mapping what is already happening in LLL and have already identified that monitoring and evaluation could be more consistent. They are working to develop a community engagement plan and a Learning City Action Plan. In phase 2 they will have a roadshow and a Community Learning Board is to be established. They are already involved in the Global Learning Festival. They have been involved in discussions about the Future of Work with the Regional Development Australia Wollongong branch.

Annie pointed out the importance of libraries in LC development. Leone congratulated Wollongong on finding the funding and pointed out that libraries are doing the most dynamic work in several Australian Learning Cities. In contrast to the UK, where the Local Authority is mandated to provide LLL, in Australia this is not the case, so Libraries are taking the bigger role of delivering LLL in communities. Kristiina referred to the Libraries in Espoo, Finland and their “Living Rooms” development.

The importance of art galleries and museums in the empowerment of minorities was pointed out and in Wollongong the art gallery and cultural development team are very actively supporting LLL programmes in the community and also those designed to support inclusion. This has brought Lara to consider how do we talk about what we do- is it through creativity and environmental sustainability- how do we make this map work?

Leone pointed out the importance of indigenous inclusion in cultural development, increasingly important in Australia as we grapple with history and the untold history of our indigenous people.

Wollongong will complete the application for membership of the PASCAL network and can contribute to global developments. Jac will send details about the Global Learning Festival to both new members.

This led into discussions around the RIEF contributions and Wollongong is interested in contributing to the Future of Work discussions. Annie explained the structure of the videos and the need for diversity and sustainability in the content.  

Next Meeting topic: Identification of three interviewees for each theme.

Wednesday 4^th August 2021 at 9am-10 am UK time.

Further meeting dates for your diary:

Wednesday 1^st September 2021 at 9am-10 am UK time.

Wednesday 29^th September 2021 at 9am-10 am UK time.

Wednesday 27^th October 2021 at 9am-10 am UK time.