Learning Cities
The idea of the Learning City has a history extending at least as far as the early 1970s, but was given new impetus by an OECD conference in Gothenburg in 1992. The OECD saw cities as in a particularly strong position to foster learning because:
 | people relate learning to their immediate environment, and 60% of people in OECD countries live in cities. |
| the city can provide a framework to give coherence to a fragmented and diverse education and training activities. |
| the city can provide a focus for community led learning and community action. |
Since 1992 the idea has developed momentum, and at least 20 cities and towns in Britain, from Nottingham and Liverpool to Thetford and Batley, have declared themselves to be "learning cities" or "learning towns".
However, their progress has not been well documented, and in 1996, NIACE was commissioned by the UK government to review the state of development of the Learning Cities movement in Britain. The report, presented to DfEE in the Spring of 1997, reviews the history of the initiatives, their objectives, partnerships, issues and problems.
Two publications arising from this work have now been published by the Department. They are:
| Learning Towns, Learning Cities (Based on the the report of the work described above and available from DfEE Publications, PO Box 5050, Sudbury, Suffolk CO10 6ZQ) ISBN 0 85522 836 9. |
| Practice, Progress and Value - Learning Communities: Assessing the value they add (A ring-bound guide to developing the Learning City approach) by Sue Cara of NIACE and Professor Stewart Ranson of the University of Birmingham available from DfEE on 0114 259 3207) |
In addition, the above two authors, together with Charles Landy, have written The Learning City in the Learning Age (Working Paper 10 in a larger study of urban policy - The Richness of Cities - supported and sponsored by the Baring Foundation; Birmingham City Council; the Glasgow Development Agency, Groundwork, Manchester City Council and Watford Council). This title is published by Comedia and Demos (September 1998) ISBN 1 873667 83 3. and obtainable, price 7.50 from bookshops or via ECO Distribution (tel: 01509 890068 or fax 01509 890191).
For general information about Learning Cities in the UK, contact the Secretariat of the
Learning City Network,
111 Grantham Road
Bingham
Nottingham
NG13 8DF.
Tel: 01949 878118
Fax: 01949 831171
Email: lc-network@ntlworld.com.
Click here to read the Learning Cities Report
