MIE and IADT to Spearhead the Dublin Learning City Initiative

MIE and IADT to Spearhead the Dublin Learning City Initiative

04/12/18

An initiative to establish Dublin as a Learning City, as defined by UNESCO, was launched on 4^th December, by Lord Mayor of Dublin, Nial Ring in the Mansion House. Supported by the Office of the Lord Mayor and Dublin City Council, the project is spearheaded by five universities and colleges across Dublin under the aegis of the Programme for Access to Higher Education (PATH), which is funded by Ireland’s Higher Education Authority (HEA).

The aim of the Dublin Learning City initiative is to ensure that education and learning - regardless of whether it is formal learning delivered by a university or college, or whether it is informal learning gained through a community initiative - is accessible for all inhabitants, regardless of age, in traditional and non-traditional settings.

The Dublin Learning City initiative is led by Denise McMorrow, Student Experience Manager, Dún Laoghaire Institute of Art, Design and Technology (IADT), and Trevor Purtill, Research & Development Programme Manager, Marino Institute of Education (MIE), in collaboration with University College Dublin (UCD), Trinity College Dublin (TCD), and the National College of Art and Design (NCAD). Together, these five institutions comprise Leinster Pillar 1.

In collaboration with Dublin City Council and other education and community stakeholders, Dublin Learning City will deliver and co-ordinate the programme’s concept across Dublin city. This will include a week-long Learning Festival. The overarching aims of this initiative are to establish sustainable intergenerational learning communities in the city and to work towards developing a strategy to attain the award of UNESCO Learning City for Dublin.

Lord Mayor of Dublin, Nial Ring, said of the initiative: “We are committed to establishing Dublin as a Learning City and to creating inclusive lifelong learning opportunities for individuals to participate in learning socially, culturally and economically to build a more equal society and celebrate learning for all our citizens.”

Dr Anna Kelly (UCD), Chairperson of Dublin Learning City said: “Dublin has enormous potential to stimulate and support learning among its citizens in ways that can help tackle existing issues, strengthen social cohesion and solidarity, and transform the prospects of communities for the better.”

Dublin Learning City’s partners will amplify existing community education initiatives by using their city wide network and retaining an inclusive and inter-generational focus as a core operational tenet. In doing so, Dublin’s citizens will benefit from enhanced individual empowerment, employability and social inclusion, economic development, cultural prosperity, and sustainable development.

At the launch ceremony, Dr Gene Mehigan, Principal Lecturer & Director of Undergraduate Studies at MIE, said: “When the Dublin Learning City concept was first being discussed, what struck us most was the simplicity and nobility of the idea: a learning city for all. No boundaries, no barriers; just a clear celebration of all levels of learning. This launch marks the beginning of that celebration for Dublin.”

Pictured at the launch of Dublin Learning City (l-r): Dr Anna Kelly, Chairperson Dublin Learning City, UCD; Dr Andrew Power, Registrar and Vice President of Equality and Diversity, IADT; Professor Sarah Glennie, Director, NCAD; Professor Kevin Mitchell, Senior Lecturer, TCD; Professor Grace Mulcahy Chair, UCD Widening Participation Committee; Dr Gene Mehigan, Principal Lecturer & Director of Postgraduate Studies, MIE; and Dr Annie Doona, President of IADT.

www.dublinlearningcity.ie     

For more information about this initiative, please contact:

Trevor Purtill
Research & Development Programme Manager
Marino Institute of Education
[email protected]
01 8535151