Advancing learning cities: lifelong learning and the creation of a learning society

Abstract

Lifelong learning is paramount to education and sustainable development, integral to the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, and central to the notion of a learning society. In most parts of the world, increasing policy attention is being given to learning cities as a strategy to promote lifelong learning and localize the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). An aspiration to the right to lifelong learning, active and global citizenship and local democracy, and, in the midst of the coronavirus disease 2019 or global pandemic, resilience and recovery, are some of the ethical and policy dimensions that drive learning cities. This chapter argues for the translation of these dimensions into practical steps as part of a framework of integrated policies at the local level.