Between the two large conferences, UN Habitat II (Istanbul 1996) and UN Habitat III (Quito 2016), we have seen a sharp rise of formal and informal practices of CITY-TO-CITY LEARNING across many countries. Large trans-national networks have sprung up to facilitate this.
What are the reasons behind this new development? Who are instigating these processes? How are global forms of learning actually taking place?
(1) First, we are going to explore how the so-called GLOBAL CHALLENGES are putting increasing pressure on social, political and economic regimes to instigate “change”, “transformation” or “transition” towards more sustainable ways of living. These pressures are now impacting urban policy-making on various levels across the world (“policy learning”).
(2) Second, we are going to take a look at THEORIES OF LEARNING to understand the new PRACTICES OF LEARNING, emerging on local and global levels. We’ll also take cue from transition theory, field theory and complexity theory.
(3) Third, we are going to look at how key INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS like UN-Habitat, The World Bank, OECD etc., are a) shaping the global discourse around urbanization, and b) how they are trying to facilitate GLOBAL LEARNING across national borders. The lecturer will bring in his own experience with UN Habitat in the last 20 years, but also invite guest speakers from other parts of the world (via zoom) to join in our discussion.
