The City of Espoo Develops as a Sustainable Learning City

Kristiina Erkkilä

doi:10.4312/as.26.1.85-96

Authors

Kristiina Erkkilä City of Espoo, Development, Education and Cultural Services, Finland

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.4312/as.26.1.85-96

Keywords:

inclusion, co-creation, sustainable development, continuous learning paths

Abstract

This paper presents Espoo as a sustainable learning city, recognised by UNESCO as one of twelve pioneering Learning Cities in 2015. The vision of the city states that Espoo is a good place to live, learn, work and do business, and where residents can have their say in matters. Dynamic co-creation processes with residents, partners, universities, and enterprises have helped create and implement the Espoo Story and to find sustainable solutions for the city and its residents. The city of Espoo is preparing its citizens for the future by empowering all kinds of learners to be at the centre of their own learning processes. Espoo provides continuous learning paths leading from early childhood education, to capacity building in the workplace, and to learning in later life. Flexible learning spaces and digitalisation are expanding opportunities to participate and have fun when learning.

Metrics

Metrics Loading ...

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.

References

City of Espoo. (2014). Local Development Plan for Education 2020. Retrieved September 15, 2019, from https://www.espoo.fi/download/noname/%7B02309D0C-1A4B-4E0C-84F0-A14FE1274157%7D/77960

City of Espoo. (2017). Advisory Board to strengthen Espoo as a Learning City. Retrieved September 15, 2019, from https://www.espoo.fi/en-US/Childcare_and_education/Advisory_board_to_strengthen_Espoo_as_a_(125200)

City of Espoo. (2018a). Education for Sustainable Development in Espoo 2018–2021. Retrieved September 15, 2019, from https://www.espoo.fi/materiaalit/espoon_kaupunki/verkkolehti/education-for-sustainable-development-in-espoo-18-21/html5/index.html?page=1&noflash

City of Espoo. (2018b). Espoo Learning City Brochure. Retrieved September 15, 2019, from https://issuu.com/espoonkaupunki/docs/learning_city_espoo

City of Espoo. (2018c). Sustainable Espoo. Retrieved September 15, 2019, from https://www.espoo.fi/en-US/City_of_Espoo/Decisionmaking/The_Espoo_Story/Sustainable_Espoo

City of Espoo. (2018d). The Espoo Story. Retrieved September 15, 2019, from https://www.espoo.fi/en-US/City_of_Espoo/Decisionmaking/The_Espoo_Story

City of Espoo. (2019a). Espoo Adult Education Centre. Retrieved September 15, 2019, from https://www.espoo.fi/en-US/Childcare_and_education/Espoo_adult_education_centre

City of Espoo. (2019b). Espoo Innovation Garden. Retrieved September 15, 2019, from https://www.espoo.fi/en-US/Jobs_and_enterprise/A_dynamic_city

Erkkilä, K. (2015). Case Study: Espoo, Finland. In R. Valdes-Cotera, N. Longworth, K. Lunardon, M. Wang, S. Jo, & S. Crowe (Eds.), Unlocking the Potential of Urban Communities – Case Studies of Twelve Learning Cities (pp. 60–73). Hamburg: UNESCO Institute for Lifelong Learning.

Erkkilä, K. (2017). The City of Espoo is seeking new solutions for its big challenges. In T. Ranta-Meyer (Ed.), Beyond the Ordinary - Aiming Higher in Higher Education (pp. 73–77). Helsinki: Metropolia University of Applied Sciences.

Evans, R. (2019). Editorial: Education 2030 & Adult Learning: Global Perspectives and Local Communities – Bridges or Gaps? Studies in Adult Education and Learning, 25(3), 3–21. DOI: https://doi.org/10.4312/as.25.3.3-21

Florida, R. (2005). Cities and the creative class. New York: Routledge. DOI: https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203997673

Landry, C. (2000). The Creative City – A toolkit for urban innovators. London: Comedia. DOI: https://doi.org/10.4324/NOE0415232418.ch17

Landry, C. (2016). The Digitized City: influence & impact. London: Comedia.

Longworth, N., & Davies, W. K. (1996). Lifelong Learning. London: Kogan Page Limited.

Sitra. (2018). Lifelong learning. Retrieved September 12, 2019, from https://www.sitra.fi/en/topics/lifelong-learning/#what-is-it-about

UNESCO Institute for Lifelong Learning. (2014). Conference report: International conference of Learning Cities. Retrieved September 11, 2019, from https://unesdoc.unesco.org/ark:/48223/pf0000226720

UNESCO Institute for Lifelong Learning. (2015). Guidelines for Building Learning Cities. Retrieved September 15, 2019, from http://uil.unesco.org/fileadmin/keydocuments/LifelongLearning/learning-cities/en-guidelines-for-building-learning-cities.pdf Accessed 22.10.2019

UNESCO Institute for Lifelong Learning. (2017). Learning Cities and the SDGs: A Guide to Action. Retrieved September 13, 2019, from https://unesdoc.unesco.org/ark:/48223/pf0000260442

Valadas, S. T., Vilhena, C., & Fragoso, A. (2019). Transitions to retirement: Perceptions of Portuguese older men. Studies in Adult Education and Learning, 25(2), 37–51. DOI: https://doi.org/10.4312/as.25.2.37-51

Valdés-Cotera, R., & Wang, M. (2018). Lifelong Learning for All: Our City’s Future. In J. James, J. Preece, & R. Valdés-Cotera (Eds.), Entrepreneurial Learning City Regions (pp. 75–91). Cham: Springer. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-61130-3_5

Zoeteman, K., Mulder, R., Smeets, R., & Wentink, C. (2016). Towards Sustainable EU Cities. Tilburg: Telos.

Zoeteman, K., Paenen, S., Mulder, R., & Wentink, C. (2017). Benchmarking Sustainability performance of Espoo with selected EU cities. Tilburg: Telos.