Dublin a City for All – Lord Mayor of Dublin Launches Inclusion and Integration Week
Dublin City Council’s Integration and Inclusion week was launched by Lord Mayor of Dublin Alison Gilliland at a reception in City Hall this morning, Monday 8th November.
The aim of the week is to highlight the positive work carried out by Dublin City Council and other agencies to promote social inclusion, integration and diversity in our city. A variety of live and online events are organised across the week by Dublin City Council’s Housing and Community Services Department working collaboratively with a range of delivery partners.
The week-long initiative features more than 100 events online and in person from walking tours, talks, workshops, exhibitions, music and more over the week of the 8th – 12th of November 2021. Inclusion and Integration week has an event for everyone and aims to bring on board anyone in Dublin who may face barriers to social inclusion. It is particularly targeted at young people, older people, people living with disability, members of the Traveller community, early school leavers and migrants.
Speaking at the official launch, Lord Mayor Alison Gilliland said: ‘Our public, community and voluntary services support all our citizens but most importantly those who feel less empowered, those who may feel isolated because of age, disability or because they lack local connections or those for whom English is not their first language. This is the core focus of this year’s Inclusion and Integration week activities. Our ambition is to make Dublin a city for all.”
“Dubliners live in an increasingly diverse, multicultural city. We are more challenged than ever before to better realise Dublin as a welcoming, inclusive, dynamic, prosperous and indeed a fair city to live in, to work and to recreate in.’’ she continued.
Dublin City Council’s Inclusion and Integration Week 2021 is particularly timely as it includes the formal handover of the UNESCO Dublin Learning City award that was announced at the UNESCO Annual Conference of Learning Cities in Yeonsu, South Korea on the 27th of October.
The Lord Mayor commented, ‘’Combined with the Dublin’s UNESCO Learning Cities Award, our Inclusion and Integration week is an opportunity for us all to recognise the work of Dublin City Council and our partners in the Dublin Learning City are making to create an inclusive, learning environment in our city. Together we are implementing UNESCO’s Guiding Principles and the UN Sustainable Development Goals into practice. Particularly the fourth goal to ‘Ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all.’ ‘’
Denise McMorrow, co-chair of Dublin Learning City stated, ‘’In collaboration with Dublin City Council and our educational and community stakeholders, Dublin Learning City has enormous potential to stimulate and support an inclusive learning environment amongst its citizens. Achieving the UNESCO Learning City Award 2021 is a testament to the hard work and dedication of our partners, stakeholders, educational providers and learners alike. The receipt of such a prestigious award ensures Dublin city receives national and international recognition of its commitment to the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. ‘’
To view the activities of Inclusion and Integration Week in full visit www.dublincityinclusion.ie.
NOTE TO EDITORS:
Dublin Learning City – about
Dublin Learning City, as an organization, was established as part of a collaboration between six of Dublin’s universities – Marino Institute of Education (MIE) and Dún Laoghaire Institute of Art, Design and Technology (IADT) ,University College Dublin (UCD), Trinity College Dublin (TCD), National College of Art and Design (NCAD) and the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland (RCSI).The organization also collaborated with several other organizations such as Dublin City Council (DCC), City of Dublin Education and Training Board (CDETB) and Dublin Dun Laoghaire Education and Training Board (DDLETB).
www.DublinLearningCity.ie
UNESCO AWARD – about
According to UNESCO, a Learning City embodies a culture of lifelong learning, promotes quality and excellence of learning, facilitates learning in the workplace and fosters an atmosphere of inclusion for all members of society at every level of education.
The UNESCO Learning City Award recognises the significant strides that Dublin Learning City has made to create an inclusive learning environment by implementing UNESCO’s Guiding Principles and Sustainable Development Goals into practice.
