Major steps taken in preparation of the 1st Global Learning Cities Conference

UIL organized in close cooperation with the National Commission of China for UNESCO and the Beijing Municipal Education Commission, a preparatory meeting, held on 1 December 2012 in Beijing, China in anticipation of the the 1st Global Learning Cities Conference. Representatives of UIL, the founding partners of UNESCO GLCN and the Chinese national authorities brainstormed around the main themes of the Conference (scheduled for Autumn 2013) and elaborated on a master plan for preparing the Conference (including an open discussion on the scope of invitations, key presenters, level of experts, the annotated agenda and the overall road map). The Conference is expected to bring together approximately 500 mayors, chairs of city councils, directors of city education departments and experts/resource persons from the five UNESCO regions.
In his inauguration speech of the meeting, Mr Jiang Peimin, Director General of Beijing Municipal Education Commission, expressed the generous commitment of Beijing Municipal Government to host the Conference.  Mr Arne Carlsen, UIL Director, indicated that UIL will, in collaboration with UNESCO Headquarters, UNESCO Regional Bureau in Bangkok, UNESCO Office in Beijing and all founding partners, work closely with the Chinese National Commission for UNESCO and the Beijing Municipal Education Commission for a successful Conference.  Mr Du Yue, Secretary General of the National Commission of China for UNESCO, emphasized in his final remarks that all key documents of the Conference should be ready in early 2013 in order to organize a resonant conference with a high-level profile. While the Chinese partners are fully mobilized in their organizational work, UIL will set up a task force to expedite content preparation for the conference.