ALCN Annual Report – May 2025 to May 2026
The ALCN Annual Report for the period May 2025 until May 2026 was approved at our AGM on 11 June 2026. Enjoy reading about the work of the ALCN and our Learning Cities and Learning Communities.
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Connecting Urban and Rural Learning initiatives PASCAL Learning Cities Network (LCN)
Connecting Urban and Rural Learning initiatives PASCAL Learning Cities Network (LCN)
Report on Learning For Change: Social Learning and Innovation in the Fiji Landcare LIFE Project
Dr Mary Johnson, Research Fellow, Global Urban and Social Studies, RMIT University, and fourth generation farmer, provided an overview of the six‑year Fiji Landcare research project (LIFE) funded by the Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research (ACIAR). The project aims to strengthen smallholder farmer livelihoods in Fiji through improved food and fibre production, sustainable natural resource management, and collaborative learning across Fiji, the Philippines, and Australia.
A summary of the findings can be downloaded here:
Summary-Notes-PASAL-Urban-Rural-Forum
Watch the presentation at https://youtu.be/dxDSEwKsoqg
Report on ALCN Learning Forum – The Adaptation Game (TAG) in Action 26 March 2026
Participants heard from the City of Canning’s Sustainability team during a hands-on session demonstrating how The Adaptation Game can spark meaningful community conversations about climate adaptation and resilience. The forum also featured a practical case study from Wyndham City, showcasing climate resilience in action, followed by time for discussion, questions, and reflections.
Resources from the Learning Forum:
- Access the webinar recording here
- Presentation slides from the:
- City of Canning – ALCN City of Canning Presentation – March 2026
- Wyndham City – ALCN learning Forum presentation – City of Wyndham – March 2026
- Summary notes from the session are also included here: ALCN Learning Forum The Adaptation Game (TAG) in Action Summary Notes – 26-03-2026 Final
Owen James Saleeba (OAM)
The ALCN congratulates Owen James Saleeba (Jim) on being awarded the Medal of the Order of Australia (OAM) for service to vocational and tertiary education and to the community.
The ALCN is proud of the strategic leadership Jim provided to the Australian Learning Communities Network throughout the period 2001-2019. This network would not exist without his leadership. He promoted lifelong learning projects and the concept of learning cities in a very practical way. Through conferences, the sharing of lifelong learning practitioner stories through newsletters, advocating for practitioners, he built a strong network. He aligned strongly with international learning city partners, particularly in the United Kingdom and Canada. He left the ALCN in a financially stable position which has enabled the present network to grow.
Jim and the City of Wodonga played a critical role in the foundation of the ALCN, following a very successful Learning Cities Conference (2000) held in Wodonga. The Learning Cities movement is international, and Jim coordinated experts from the United Kingdom and Canada to share experiences at various times. Now the ALCN Inc. members include all five Australian UNESCO Learning Cities (Wyndham, and Melton (VIC), Canning (WA), Circular Head (TAS) and Wollongong (NSW), and other lifelong learning cities and learning communities that aspire to the UNESCO learning cities framework.
The ALCN Inc. is known internationally as representing UNESCO learning cities as demonstrated in 2024 when I was invited to present case studies of Australian UNESCO learning cities at the ASEAN+3 Regional Learning Cities Conference in Bangkok in October 2024. Members of the network are often invited to present their learning city project work at international webinars run by UNESCO and other international forums. This builds on the legacy that Jim founded.