On Monday, 24th February, Glasgow celebrated a significant achievement in its journey as a thriving learning city with a special reception marking the receipt of a prestigious UNESCO City of Lifelong Learning Award. The event, hosted by the Rt Hon The Lord Provost, Councillor Jacqueline McClaren took place at Glasgow City Chambers on behalf of Glasgow City Council, with support from the Strategic Support Services Team of Education Services.

Glasgow, a member of the UNESCO Global Network of Learning Cities (GNLC) since 2019, with a decades long track record in Learning City approaches, has now been recognized for its commitment to lifelong learning, community engagement, and inclusive educational opportunities for all. As Scotland’s largest city, Glasgow has built a reputation as a vibrant hub for education and skills development, fostering collaboration between academia, government, and community organizations to create accessible learning pathways for its residents. It is proud to be the only UK city to have received this award in the current UNESCO round and one of only two cities in Europe to do so.

The reception was attended by esteemed guests, including Deacon Convener, Richard Paterson OBE; Andrew McFarlane, the Lord Dean; Janie McCusker, Chair of the Glasgow Colleges' Regional Board; Andrew Olney , Glasgow Life - Director of Libraries, Sports and Communities; Martin Newth, Glasgow School of Art; and Jon Vincent, Principal, Glasgow Clyde College.

We are particularly pleased that CR&DALL members, Professors Catherine Lido and Mike Osborne, who have been leading Glasgow’s Learning Cities initiatives through the PASCAL International Observatory at the University of Glasgow, were also in attendance. A special acknowledgment was given to Professor Scott MacGregor of the University of Strathclyde, who represented Glasgow in Saudi Arabia to accept the award on the city’s behalf. Additional recognition was given to Dr. Sergio Hernandez-Mendoza, whose expertise in Learning Cities was instrumental in the development of Glasgow’s award application during his tenure with Glasgow City Council. As a dedicated PASCAL Associate and Education Consultant, Dr. Hernandez-Mendoza continues to contribute to global learning city initiatives.

This accolade further cements Glasgow’s status as a global leader in lifelong learning, reinforcing the city’s mission to provide inclusive and innovative learning opportunities for all citizens. A rousing speech was delivered by Dr Douglas Hutchison highlighting the increasing need for an educated citizenry in the face of authoritarianism and despotism rising in the world today. Dr Hutchison took over as the City Council’s Executive Director of Education Services in 2022, and helped revise our city’s broader educational vision as All Learners, All Achieving document for 2022 to 2027. Key to these core tenets are the goal of delivering ‘inclusive high-quality education’ and a critical consideration of challenges facing Education Services and the public sector more broadly.

The text of Douglas Hutchison’s speech can be found below:

Lord Provost, honoured guests and colleagues, it is a pleasure and a privilege to respond on behalf of the GEL-HRE board. Thank you Lor Provost for organising this Civic Reception to reconise the significant achievement of gaining the UNESCO Learning City award. Thanks again to the University of Strathclyde Professor Scott McGregor to going to Saudi to collect the award.

A lot of work has gone into achieving the award- the daily work of all our institutions would be the biggest part of the work, but that needed to be captured and presented in a way that gained us the award. For that we owe our thanks to the Policy Performance and Research team here at the city who hosted Dr Sergio Harnandez Mondoza who pulled together the bid. Thanks also to Michele, Graeme, Christina and Amina who supported Sergio and saw things through to the end after Sergio’s contract ended.

Being a Learning City though isn’t about looking back to what we have done. Being a Learning City seems more important than ever in our uncertain world where truth it determined by those with the greatest power rather than by objective facts. The greatest protection against despots and kleptocrats is an education population.

We are very fortunate in Glasgow to have five outstanding Higher Education Institutions, three of Scotland best colleges and our own quite good schools and nurseries here in the city- two of which were very recently rated as excellent by HMI. We want our education system to produce young people who have the critical skills to be able to engage with what is presented and ask hard questions. Activists who will also challenge us when it comes to sustainability and diversity.

Being a UNESCO Learning City is also about being a committed to lifelong learning- allowing people to have a commitment to constantly skilling and reskilling to meet the needs of a changing economy. Education, if it ever was, is no longer a once and done activity. Being a Learning City reminds us that we all need to be constantly learning . Artificial Intelligence is a game changer for education, and in schools we are hardly out the starting blocks. Learning and the ability to constantly re-learn will be the currency for our young people and adult learners. As a Learning City we can all reap the rewards of education and having an education population- but without that learning we will all pay the price.

If I could finish with a line from Robert Burns’ Ode to General Washington

See gatherin thousands, while I sing,

A broken chain, exulting, bring,

A dash it in a tyrant’s face!

And dare him to his very beard,

And tell him he no more is feared.

An education population is our best defence against tyranny and our best hope for a prosperous future in this great City. Thanks to everyone who helped us to achieve it and thanks to everyone who continues to ensure we are a city worthy of the title UNESCO City of Learning.

The attached photograph in the CR&DALL carousel shows from left to right Jon Vincent (Principal, Clyde College), Dr Michele McClung (GCC), Professor Catherine Lido (University of Glasgow), Professor Scott MacGregor (Vice Principal, University of Strathclyde), Lord Provost Jacqueline McLaren, Dr Douglas Hutchison (GCC, Executive Director of Education), Paul Little (Principal, City of Glasgow College), Roy Gardner ( Vice Principal, City of Glasgow College) ( (photo credit to Glasgow City Council)