The purpose of the UNESCO Learning City Award is to identify and highlight effective local initiatives that support high-quality education and opportunities for lifelong learning for all.

By putting into practice the UNESCO Global Network of Learning Cities guiding guidelines, cities in each of the five UNESCO regions that have shown notable success in learning city development are given this triennial prize.

Objectives:

The UNESCO Learning City reward is not a reward for excellence, nor is it an official label. The goal is to recognize and reward exceptional efforts in creating learning cities in communities around the world. The award recognizes communities that have made significant progress in boosting education and lifetime learning opportunities for everybody.

Quick Details:

• Provided by: United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO)
• Deadline: 31 May 2024
• Deadline for nominations by UNESCO: 28 June 2024
• Announcing Date: September 2024
• Award ceremony: During the sixth ICLC in December 2024.
• Duration: more than 12 months
• Gender: Any
• Type: Award
• Eligible Nations: All UNESCO GNLC Member Cities (Afghanistan not included)

Benefits:

• The UNESCO Learning City Award is presented every three years during the International Conference on Learning Cities.
• Only one city per country can get the UNESCO Learning City Award in any given round. These cities will receive a certificate. However, this is not a UNESCO Prize.

Eligibility Criteria:

• All UNESCO GNLC member towns that have been a part of the network for more than a year are eligible to apply for the UNESCO Learning City Award 2024.
• After receiving a UNESCO Learning City Award, previous recipients will not be eligible for another one for six years. As a result, the cities that joined the network in 2024 and those that were awarded the prize in 2019 and 2021 are not eligible for this cycle.

Selection Criteria:

Based on the Guidelines for Building Learning Cities, all proposals submitted for the UNESCO Learning City Award are assessed using the following standards:

• Advancement of learning city plan
• Progress in resource mobilization and utilization
• Advances in stakeholder coordination and partnerships
• Advances to ensure learning is accessible to all citizens
• Progress in monitoring and evaluation of learning city development
• Advancement of innovative practices
• Advances in fostering a culture of ifelong learning
• Contributions to GNLC activities

Conditions:

• All nominated cities must fill out a Consent Form (part of the application package) allowing UIL to publish and share the submitted materials without charge, with the understanding that the cities will be clearly credited as the owners of these materials.
• Submitted materials will not be returned.
• The jury’s decision is final, and there is no appeals process.
• Applicants are responsible for delivering their materials to their respective National Commissions for UNESCO.

How to Apply?

The following process must be followed in order for nominations for the award to be submitted to UIL:

• The National Commission for UNESCO in each city’s home country must receive the following paperwork from cities hoping to be considered for the award:
  • An application form that shows the growth of the learning city; additional supporting materials in the form of annexes (such as news items, reference documents, and videos);
  • Five high-resolution images (original, uncompressed, and unresized) showing learning city activities;
  • A signed agreement form for the usage and dissemination of materials (available as part of the application package). Every picture needs to have a brief caption and copyright information included.
• Each nation may have a maximum of two cities nominated by National Commissions.
  • National Commissions are required to submit an official award nomination form together with the supporting documentation that the nominated cities have given to UIL.
• Once UIL has received all nomination paperwork, it will acknowledge receipt and forward the materials to the jury for their ultimate determination. In September 2024, UIL will declare the verdict on behalf of the jury.

                     Apply Now

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For more details, kindly refer to UNESCO’s website.