International Day

2022 Edition: Educating Cities are spaces of peace and opportunities.

30 de November de 2022

Message and commitment

Institutional Greeting

As Gandhi said, «there is no road towards peace; peace is the road» and here is where education plays a key role: it acts as the paving stones that build the road and make the journey smoother. Educating Cities not only recognise the paramount importance of education in building spaces for change, but we also know that this road cannot be travelled alone: far-reaching partnerships between all walks of life are necessary. A huge collective effort is needed to create growth opportunities that revolve around the well-being of their citizens, where rights are guaranteed and opportunities are created for everyone in order to eliminate inequalities, which are one of the problems that threaten peace and the free and dignified development of all people.

We need anchorages that firmly take root, but we also need to have reference points on the horizon so that we know where we should be heading, even more so in historical moments of instability and uncertainties such as today’s. However, uncertainties aren’t always negative. Doubt is the cornerstone of learning and the starting line. We need more critical thinking, curiosity and imagination to bring back the power of education as a tool that allows us to convey key values and build cities of peace, respect, justice and dialogue. We’ve had to learn that human rights aren’t negotiable, while international law reminds us that governments don’t grant them, but do have an obligation to protect, develop and monitor their implementation. Therefore, the fundamental right to education also entails the obligation to be educational. This is probably one of the most important historical milestones and calls for ongoing and collective work. The Educating Cities have known this for a long time, and we have gradually weaved an ever larger and more robust global network.

The first institutional body for contact with citizens is local government. Major global challenges begin here and we can’t be a latecomer. We must make the seed germinate at its root and understand, now more than ever before, that education doesn’t exist just as a reality of technical or methodological study, but also as a global concept that entails other issues related to history, inclusion, inequalities, accessibility, peaceful and harmonious living, diversity and social cohesion, among many others.

With all these precedents, and in the current global climate, it might seem naïve to speak of the importance of peace in the face of violence, of education in the face of exclusion, or of caring over individualism, as not only is it not utopian, but it’s indispensable. In many respects, peace and education share the same semantic field: cultivating peace calls for respect, observation, learning and imagination, as does education. These are unique tools of change that we have at our disposal. On 30 November, we’re holding the International Day of the Educating City and we, as Educating Cities, are committed to looking for, imagining and generating opportunities and spaces to grow.

Pau Gonzàlez Val

Concejal de Educación del Ayuntamiento de Barcelona
Pau Gonzàlez Val
Deputy Mayor for Education, Barcelona City Council
Delegated Chairman, IAEC

Slogan

“Educating Cities are spaces of peace and opportunities”

Local governments in the network work hard and long to create cities that exude safety and well-being, where rights are guaranteed and opportunities are created for all. Public policies geared owards boosting access to education, health, work, culture, sport, recreation and participation are a sign of this, as are rocesses of inclusion and social cohesion, the design of safe and friendly urban environments, and harmonious living.

However, our cities are also the scene of social tensions where various types of violence jeopardise harmonious living, peace of mind and safety on our streets. Socioeconomic and cultural inequalities are among the main causes of this violence, which threatens people’s freedom and well-being. Some of its manifestations are more visible than others, but we need to identify them all and provide resources to prevent and combat them.

Fighting against inequalities is one way of doing this. Meanwhile, education is a highly important tool that lets us transmit key values to build spaces and cities of peace, such as the importance of respect, social justice and dialogue.

Therefore, implementing public policies, programmes and citizen initiatives which foster equal opportunities, convey attitudes and values for harmonious living, generate critical thinking, and ensure the well-being and development of all people is a passionate commitment to transforming cultures of violence into cultures of peace, which all Educating Cities share.

Therefore, the slogan chosen for the International Day of the Educating City 2022, thanks to a consultation process with all members, is ‘The Educating City is a city of peace and opportunities’. With this celebration, we intend to mobilise all social agents in your cities so that they join efforts to promote peace, coexistence, solidarity and inclusion. The Day intends to be a dynamic and participatory event that promotes dialogue and raises awareness on all the opportunities that the municipality offers, contributing to the creation of new synergies.