The University of Limerick’s City Centre Campus played host to a gathering of speakers as the flagship event of this year’s Limerick’s Lifelong Learning Festival.
The 12th annual Limerick Lifelong Learning Festival took place this May, with over 130 free events and activities taking place.
The flagship event was a celebration of UNESCO Learning Cities and it took place in the University of Limerick’s new City Centre Campus.
The event featured guest speakers from the Irish Network of Learning Cities, including Belfast, Dublin, Cork, and Derry/Strabane. As well as the sharing of best practice in the learning cities’ presentations and panel discussion, guests were also treated to cultural performances and a tour of the University’s digital fabrication facility ‘Fab Lab’.
The morning proved to be a wonderful opportunity for Learning Limerick members to network with colleagues and visiting speakers, to renew links with partners and colleagues, and forge some new ones.
Guests also heard from learners and took part in some interactive learning activities, celebrating lifelong learning in action.
Addressing the guests at the seminar at UL City Centre Campus, Professor Ann Ledwith, Dean of Graduate & Professional Studies at UL, said: “It indeed is fitting that the flagship event for the Limerick Lifelong Learning Festival this year is held in this new UL campus; and it truly embraces bringing the university into the heart of the city.
“University of Limerick is a proud host and supporter of the annual Lifelong Learning Festival, and we are delighted to be hosting the flagship event this year.”
The festival is hosted by Learning Limerick – with whom UL signed a Memorandum of Understanding in 2019, signalling its commitment to advancing Limerick’s progress as a Learning Region.
The University, as one of the higher education providers in the region, annually contribute 20-30 events, showcasing the breadth and depth of learning opportunities and access to learning opportunities provided by UL.
It represents an opportunity for UL to demonstrate how it is providing inclusive and equitable quality education as well as promoting lifelong learning opportunities for all; directly engage with City and Region through Learning Limerick partners; highlight the diversity of learning opportunities available at UL, including access and non-traditional routes for all learners; as well providing is an opportunity to bring a level of transparency and invite engagement through use of facilities, in particular the city centre campus.
Learning Limerick is a partnership forum that works together to promote awareness of the importance of lifelong learning for every person, family community and workplace in Limerick, and to influence education and skills policy on a local, national and international level.
They also seek to position learning at the centre of development planning in the Limerick region in all communities, sectors, and settings.
Learning Limerick is a multi-sectoral partnership group that is committed to advancing Limerick’s progress as a Learning Region. Current membership is representative of Local Government, Higher Education, Further Education and Training, Local Development, Community Education, Youth Work, Social Welfare, Childcare, Migrant Integration and Limerick Chamber Skillnet.
The Limerick Lifelong Learning Festival is primarily an awareness raising event to inform the public of the diversity of learning opportunities that are available.
It provides an opportunity for all participating educational providers, including UL, to highlight the value of life-long and life-wide education.
Specifically for UL, it is an opportunity to engage directly with audiences who otherwise may be out of reach due to contextual challenges.
(Picture attached: At the UNESCO Learning Cities Seminar in UL’s City Centre Campus were Professor Ann Ledwith, UL, Triona Lynch, Limerick and Clare ETB, Mayor of Limerick City and County Council, Cllr Daniel Butler, Dr Pat Daly, CEO Limerick City and County Council, Eimear Brophy, Limerick and Clare ETB and Paul Patton, Limerick and Clare ETB Picture: Alan Place)
