Nominations open for UNESCO Learning City Award

The UNESCO Learning City Award has been established to recognize and showcase good practices in promoting quality education and lifelong learning opportunities for all at the local level. This triennial award is presented to cities in each of the five UNESCO regions that have demonstrated significant progress in learning city development by implementing the UNESCO Global Network of Learning Cities guiding documents. Only member cities of the UNESCO GNLC are eligible to apply for the UNESCO Learning City Award, which is valid for one award cycle.

Purpose

• The UNESCO Learning City Award is not an award of excellence, nor does it constitute an official label. Instead, its purpose is to recognize and reward outstanding efforts and achievements in developing learning cities in communities around the world. It is awarded to cities that have achieved outstanding progress in promoting education and lifelong learning opportunities for all.

Eligibility Criteria

• The UNESCO Learning City Award 2024 is open to all UNESCO GNLC member cities with more than 12 months of membership in the network. Past awardees will not be eligible for the award for a period of six years following the receipt of a UNESCO Learning City Award. Consequently, the cities that received the award in 2019 and 2021, as well as those which joined the network in 2024, are ineligible this cycle.

Selection Criteria

• Only those advancements made in lifelong learning development once a city has joined the GNLC are considered. Applications for the award will be evaluated according to the following criteria:
  • Advancement of learning city plan;
  • Advances in stakeholder coordination and partnerships;
  • Progress in mobilizing and utilizing resources;
  • Progress in monitoring and evaluation of learning city development;
  • Advances to ensure learning is accessible to all citizens;
  • Advances to foster a culture of lifelong learning;
  • Advancement of innovative practices;
  • Contributions to GNLC activities.

For more information, visit UNESCO.