Opening municipal eyes and minds: International roles and responsibilities for learning cities and regions

Session outline: Perhaps the most visible sign of learning cities and regions is the extent to which they look outwards towards the world in order to both import and export experiences, ideas, knowledge and awareness from other cities and regions. This session therefore outlines the rationale for cooperation exercises across the globe and examines the authority’s present performance in this field. It is useful for raising awareness not just in council employees but in the population as a whole, and can be used in all types of learning provider and community organisations. Later sessions in this chapter will provide case studies of global actions that have produced local benefits.