UNESCO Institute for Lifelong Learning (UIL)
Global
Dear friends of UIL,
Welcome to this month’s edition of the UIL Bulletin.
This edition features a call for applications to host the Seventh International Conference on Learning Cities, offering a unique platform to shape global learning agendas and showcase local innovation. You will also find targeted capacity‑building opportunities, including new courses supporting local action on greening communities, education for sustainable development, and strengthening digital skills for youth and adult literacy educators.
In addition, we present a new UIL publication on effective reskilling and upskilling programmes for older adults and highlight upcoming webinars on learning for older adults in UNESCO Learning Cities as well as on empowering early childhood care and education teachers through lifelong learning. We also announce a vacancy for a Book Reviews Editor with the International Review of Education.
I encourage you to engage with these opportunities and resources and continue partnering with us to strengthen lifelong learning across the globe.
Warm regards,
Isabell Kempf
Director, UNESCO Institute for Lifelong Learning
Host the Seventh International Conference on Learning Cities
The UNESCO Global Network of Learning Cities (GNLC) invites member cities to apply to host the Seventh International Conference on Learning Cities (ICLC 7), scheduled for June 2027.Under the working theme ‘Learning Cities in the Age of AI: Towards Inclusive Digital Urban Futures’, ICLC 7 will bring together city leaders, policymakers, researchers and practitioners from around the world to explore how artificial intelligence is reshaping urban life and how learning cities can harness digital innovation to build inclusive, sustainable and resilient futures.
Join our course on education for sustainable development for French-speaking learning cities
Register now for our course on education for sustainable development (ESD) for French‑speaking learning cities, taking place from 4 May to 5 June 2026. Designed for local decision‑makers and lifelong learning stakeholders, the course equips participants with practical skills, knowledge and tools to foster green, climate‑resilient and environmentally responsible communities using the learning city framework as a driver for sustainable change.
Discover our online course ‘Improving the Digital Competencies of Literacy Educators’
Are you a youth or adult literacy educator looking to strengthen your digital teaching skills? Or do you work in adult education at the national or local level and want to build the digital capacities of literacy educators? Discover our self‑paced course, ‘Improving the Digital Competencies of Literacy Educators’, developed with the support of Huawei to bring more innovation and creativity into literacy learning. Enrol directly in the course or attend our information session on 22 April 2026.
Nominations are now open for the 2026 UNESCO Prize for Girls’ and Women’s Education!
If you have a project or programme that is transforming the lives of girls and women in and through education, then we want to hear from you. Two laureates will be selected to receive USD 50,000 each to boost their work.
NEWS
As populations around the world age faster than ever, the question is no longer whether to support learning in later life but how to ensure that all older adults can access the education and training they need to thrive. Our new research report explores exactly that. Developed by UIL and Shanghai Open University (SOU), it examines how institutions in Colombia, Japan, Singapore, Sweden and the United States of America are designing innovative, inclusive and impactful learning opportunities for older adults.
New blog post: ‘Reading Beyond Numbers: Literacy Education and Assessment in the Republic of Korea’
In a new UIL blog, Professor Soyoun Park, Visiting Researcher at the UNESCO Institute for Lifelong Learning, shares reflections from over a decade of work on the Korean Adult Literacy Survey. Her research reminds us that literacy is shaped not just by schooling but by history, inequality, ageing, digital transformation and lived experience.
EVENTS
Join the UNESCO GNLC webinar on 15 April 2026, exploring how cities design and implement strategies that support older adults’ digital learning and participation, particularly for those at risk of exclusion. Speakers will share examples of how cities address digital inequalities, reach disadvantaged groups and create enabling learning environments that empower older adults to engage confidently with digital technologies through lifelong learning.
Webinar: ‘Empowering Early Childhood Care and Education Teachers through Lifelong Learning’
On 29 April 2026, UIL, in partnership with Shanghai Normal University (SHNU), will host the webinar ‘Empowering Early Childhood Care and Education Teachers through Lifelong Learning’. It will focus on the lifelong learning of early childhood care and education educators and the conditions that enable them to continuously develop their knowledge, skills and professional practices.
Watch recordings of our past webinars!
UNESCO Learning Cities webinar: ‘Cities in Emergencies - Safeguarding Lifelong Learning’
Global and local voices at UIL
We were delighted to welcome Uwe Grieger, Director of the Hamburg Volkshochschule (VHS), for an exchange on civic education, reaching those furthest from learning and strengthening collaboration in adult education. UIL looks forward to joining the VHS programme 'Accomplices of the Future' and preparing a joint event connecting Hamburg’s adult learning initiatives with UIL’s international expertise.
We also had the please of welcoming Professor Beate Ratter, UNESCO Chair in Societal Climate Change Research and Resilience at the University of Hamburg, to UIL, where she joined UIL Director Isabell Kempf and colleagues for a dynamic discussion on societal climate change research and resilience.
We welcomed members of the International Women’s Club of Hamburg for our joint Gender Talk, highlighting how gender shapes intergenerational learning.
We also had the pleasure of hosting Camilla Berner, strategist for adult education and second‑language acquisition from the City of Stockholm, Sweden, for a work-shadowing programme, exchanging strategies in adult education and second-language acquisition.
International Review of Education – Journal of Lifelong Learning
Arts and crafts as an educational strategy and coping mechanism for Republic of Korea and United States parents during the COVID-19 pandemic
Meera Choi, Hannah Tessler & Grace Kao
The role of art education in adult prisons: The Western Australian experience
Margaret Giles, Lisa Paris & Jacqui Whale
Global citizenship education and the internationalisation of higher education: Critical perspectives from South Africa
Samia Chasi & Savo Heleta
Education for democracy and justice under fire: Integrating identity perspectives into global citizenship education in conflict settings
Roi Silberberg & Noor Abo Ras
VACANCY
International Review of Education - Book Reviews Editor
The International Review of Education – Journal of Lifelong Learning (IRE) is seeking a Book Reviews Editor to join its editorial team from May to November 2026. This remote consultancy offers a unique opportunity to contribute to a leading international journal by commissioning and managing book reviews, supporting peer review and engaging with scholars across the lifelong learning community.