Building enterprising learning cities: The Pascal International Exchanges (PIE) experience

Abstract

PASCAL International Exchanges (PIE) provided a low-cost first opportunity for online exchanges of information and experience between learning cities around the world. Twenty-two cities participated in the programme between 2010 and 2013 from regions across the five continents. The PIE experience showed the value of diversity as a stimulus to new ideas about learning city development with the influences of East Asia particularly significant. PIE was instrumental in the development of EcCoWell ideas about holistic and integrated approaches to learning city development and is taken as an example of the value of international exchanges in fostering enterprising approaches to learning city development with Taipei, Cork and PASCAL interacting in this initiative. Lessons from the PIE experience are influencing the evolution of the next phase of PASCAL Learning Cities 2020 Networks as the successor programme to PIE with five networks currently under development.