Learning Neighbourhoods

Abstract

Cork Learning City is piloting a programme called Learning Neighbourhoods. While it is an evolving model, it has potential for animating a culture of learning that is community based and with the prospect of giving ordinary citizens a chance to contribute both to broader issues at city level as well as to significant global debates of the day. The Learning Neighbourhood concept is essentially about collaboration and coalition building, extending networks and prioritising learning (horizontally and vertically) among and between generations and the positive leverage of all and every resource to enhance the process. It is a community building concept articulated through learning. Learning is not something abstract and removed from the practicalities of living. Learning encapsulates the four types of capital, human, social, identity, and cultural; it also extends to capacity building, resilience, and the challenges of the sustainable development goals (SDGs). This paper contextualises the theory and practice informing Learning Neighbourhoods.