Preamble
Today, more than ever the city, large or small, offers countless opportunities
for education. However, the city can also be influenced by educating forces used
in a negative way. I one way or another the city contains within itself major
elements for integral education and training that makes it at one and the same
time a complex system, object of educational attention and a permanent, plural,
multi-faceted, educating agent capable of counteracting inimical educating elements.
The educating city is a city with its own personality, forming an integral part
of its nation. Therefore, its identity is interdependent with that of the country
it belongs to. The educating city is not self-contained; it has an active relationship
with its environment, with the other urban centres in the nation and with cities
in other countries. The goal of this relationship is to learn and share experiences
and thus enrich the lives of the inhabitants.
The educating city must undertake and develop this function while undertaking
its traditional functions (economic, social, political and as a purveyor of services)
with its sights squarely on the education, promotion and development of all its
inhabitants. The educating city will give priority to children and youth, but
with a commitment to including persons of all ages in lifelong learning.
The reasons which justify this function are social, economic and political; orientated
especially to an efficient, coexistence-based cultural and educational project.
These are the great challenges of the 21st century: firstly, "investing" in education, in each individual, to increase
his or her ability to express, affirm and develop his or her own human potential,
with its uniqueness, creativity and responsibility. Secondly, promoting the conditions
for full equality so that everyone can feel respected and can be respect of others,
capable of entering into dialogue with others. And, thirdly, unifying all these
factors so that we can create, city by city, a true knowledge society that does
not exclude anyone, for which we will have to provide, amongst other things, easy
access for all the population to the information and communications technologies
that can allow everyone to achieve their potential.
Educating cities, with their formal educational institutions, non-formal interventions
(for educative purposes external to the formal education system) and informal
interventions (neither intentional nor planned) will collaborate either bilaterally
or multilaterally in the exchange of experiences. In the spirit of cooperation,
educating cities will aid each other in supporting study and investment projects,
either in the form of direct cooperation or in collaboration with international
bodies.
Humanity is not only living through a stage of changes, but also an authentic
change in stages. Persons must educate themselves for the sake of their critical
adaptation to and active participation in the challenges and possibilities opening
up as a result of the globalisation of all economic and social processes, so that
they can intervene, through their local world, in a complex international scenario,
and in order to remain autonomous subjects in the face of a flood of information
controlled by economic and political power centres.
On the other hand, children and young people are no longer passive subjects in
the life of their society, and, therefore, their city. The United Nations Convention
of November 20, 1989, which further developed and considered binding the principles
of the Universal Declaration of 1959, made children citizens with full civic and
political rights. Thus, they can enjoy the rights of association and participation
that are suitable to their level of maturity.
The protection of children and youth in our cities no longer consists merely
of protecting them as such. It is also important to find them a proper place next
to adults who have the civic virtue of finding satisfaction in inter-generational
coexistence. At the beginning of the 21st century, all generations are clearly
more and more in need of life-long learning opportunities that are constantly
being updated.
Global citizenship is now in the making even though we still lack a global democratic
structure, even though many countries still have not been able to attain and constitute
a democracy that is effective while being respectful of their genuine social and
cultural patterns and where democracies with a longer standing democratic tradition
can feel satisfied with the quality of their democratic systems. In this context,
cities in all countries must act, in their local dimension, as platforms for experimentation
and consolidation of a democratic citizenry, as promoters of peaceful coexistence
through ethical and civic values education, respectful of the manifold nature
of the possible different forms of government while acting as the drivers of widely
representative, participatory mechanisms.
Diversity is inherent in the modern city and the feeling is that it will increase
even more in the future. Accordingly, one of the challenges facing the educating
city is to foster a balance and harmony between identity and diversity, taking
into account the contributions of the communities of which the city is comprised
and the right of all those living in the city to feel that their own cultural
identity is being recognised.
We live in a world of uncertainty that is giving ground to a quest for security,
which is often expressed as the negation of the other and as mutual mistrust.
The educating city is aware of this and does not seek simple unilateral solutions:
it accepts this contradiction and puts forward processes of knowledge, dialogue
and participation as the best way forward of living and coping with uncertainty.
Therefore, the right to an educating city is hereby affirmed. This right must
be understood as an effective extension of the fundamental right to education.
There must be a true fusion, in the phase of formal education and adulthood, of
the resources and educational power of the city with the ordinary development
of the educational, labour and social system.
The right to live in an educating city must constitute a relevant guarantee of
the principles of equality for all, social justice, and territorial balance.
This emphasises the responsibility local governments in the sense of developing
all the educational potentialities that the city has within itself, incorporating
the principles of the educating city into its political project.
Principles
I. THE RIGHT TO AN EDUCATING CITY
1. All the inhabitants of a city have the right to enjoy, in liberty and equality,
the means and opportunities for education, leisure and individual growth that
the city offers. The right to an educating city is understood as an extension
of the fundamental right of all to education. The educating city constantly recommits
to the lifelong education of its inhabitants in the most varied ways. And to make
this possible, all groups, with their own particular needs, must be taken into
account.
In city planning and government, suitable measures will be taken to overcome
every type of obstacle that restricts the exercise of the right to equality, including
physical barriers. This will be the responsibility of both the municipal government
and other levels of government that affect the city. The citizens themselves will
also be committed to this task on an individual basis as well as through the various
associations to which they belong.
2. The city will promote education in diversity as well as understanding, international
solidarity and cooperation and world peace. This is an education that fights against
any form of discrimination. The educating city will foster freedom of expression,
cultural diversity and dialogue in equal conditions. It will also avail itself
of both avant-garde initiatives and those of popular culture, no matter what their
origin. It will contribute to correcting inequalities that arise from cultural
production based solely on mercantile criteria.
3. An educating city will foster dialogue between generations, not only as a
form of peaceful coexistence, but also as a way to seeking out common projects
shared by groups of persons of different ages. These projects should be orientated
towards civic initiatives and actions whose value consists precisely in their
cross-generational character and in the use of the respective skills and values
of the different age groups.
4. The municipal policies of an educational character shall always be understood
as referring to a broader context inspired by the principles of social justice,
democratic community spirit, quality of life and the edification of the individual
citizen.
5. The municipalities shall undertake to exercise their powers effectively in
matters of education. No matter what the scope of these powers may be, they shall
put forward a broad and integrated education policy, in order to include all the
modalities of formal, non-formal and informal education and the different cultural
manifestations, sources of information and paths of discovery of the reality of
the city.
6. In order to undertake appropriate action, the persons responsible for municipal
policy must obtain accurate information on the situation and needs of the inhabitants.
Thus, the city shall undertake studies and surveys, which it shall keep up to
date and make available to the public and shall establish channels that are constantly
open to individuals and groups that allow the formulation of specific proposals
and general policies.
Furthermore, the municipality in the course of its decision-making in any area
of its jurisdiction shall bear in mind the educative and training-related impact
of the decisions made.
II. THE COMMITMENT OF THE CITY
7. The city must know how to discover, preserve and display its own complex identity.
This will make it unique and provide the basis for a fruitful dialogue with its
inhabitants and with other cities. Its customs and traditions must be compatible
with international ways of life. In this way it will be able to offer an appealing
image without spoiling its natural and social environment.
At the same time, the city shall promote the knowledge, learning and use of the
languages that are spoken therein and use them as an integrating element and factor
for social cohesion.
8. The transformation and growth of a city must be governed by a harmony between
its new needs and the preservation of buildings and symbols of its past and of
its existence. City planning must consider the enormous impact of the urban environment
on the development of all individuals, on the integration of their personal and
social aspirations, and resist the segregation of generations and the segregation
of people from different cultures, who have much to learn from each other.
The organisation of the city's physical urban space shall meet the requirements
of accessibility, encounter, relations, play and leisure as well as a greater
closeness to nature. The educating city shall pay special attention to the needs
of the handicapped, the elderly and children in its town planning, facilities
and services, in order to guarantee them a city environment that is friendly as
well as respectful of the limitations that they may have, without their having
to renounce their maximum independence possible.
9. The educating city shall encourage citizen participation from a critical,
co-responsible point of view. To do so, local government must provide people with
the information they need and foster, from an integrated perspective, orientation,
and educational activities in ethical and civic values.
At the same time the educating city shall use its institutions and civic and
social organisations to stimulate citizen participation in the collective project,
taking into account private initiatives and other forms of spontaneous participation.
10. The municipal administration must equip the city with spaces, facilities
and public services that are suitable for the personal, social, moral and cultural
development of all its inhabitants, paying special attention to children and youth.
city.
11. The city must guarantee the quality of life for all its inhabitants. This
requires creating a balance with its natural surroundings, providing the right
to a healthy environment, as well as the right to housing, employment, leisure
and public transportation, amongst others. At the same time, the city shall actively
promote health education and the participation of all its inhabitants in the best
practices of sustainable development.
12. The educational project that is explicit and implicit to the city's structure
and system, the values it promotes, the quality of life it offers, the celebrations
it organises, its campaigns and projects of all types, must be the subject of
reflection and participation, together with the necessary means that can help
people grow personally and collectively.
III. SERVING ITS INHABITANTS
13. The municipality will assess the impact of all cultural, recreational, informative,
advertising-related and other types of activities offered, and of the realities
which make a direct unmediated impression on children and youth. In such cases,
the municipality will take non-authoritarian action in an attempt to provide a
rational explanation or interpretation. The municipality will ensure that a balance
is struck between the need for protection and the need for the autonomy necessary
for discovery. The municipality will also provide educational forums and debate,
including exchange programs between cities, to enable all inhabitants to fully
accept the changes generated by the urban environment.
14. The city will make an effort to provide parents with the education they need
to help their children mature and make the city their own in a spirit of mutual
respect. In the same vein, projects will be developed for educators in general
and people (private individuals, or public service personnel) who undertake educating
functions often without being aware they are doing so. The educating city will
also assure that the police and civil protection forces that depend directly upon
the municipality act in concert with these proposals.
15. The city must offer its inhabitants the perspective of occupying their place
in the society: it shall provide them with the necessary counselling for personal
and vocational orientation and make it possible for them to participate in social
activities. In the specific area of education-work, we should underline the close
relationship that should exist between educational planning and the needs of the
labour market.
Thus, the city shall define training strategies that take into account social
demand and shall collaborate with trade union and employers' organisations in
job creation and in formal and non-formal life-long training.
16. The city must be aware of the mechanisms of exclusion and marginalization
that affect it and of their various forms, and develop the affirmative action
policies needed. Special concern is needed for newly arrived persons, whether
immigrants or refugees, who have the right to freely feel that their adoptive
city is their own. The city shall strive to foster social cohesion amongst its
neighbourhoods and inhabitants of all walks of life.
17. Intervention that minimises differences may take various forms, but it must
always be based on a comprehensive view of the person, on a model shaped by the
interests of each individual and the rights to which all are entitled. Any meaningful
action must guarantee coordination amongst the various administrative bodies involved
and between the services provided by these bodies. The city shall also foster
the cooperation between administrations and its citizens freely and democratically
organised in institutions in the so-called tertiary sector, non-governmental organisations
and similar associations.
18. The city will encourage the formation of associations as a form of participation
and civic co-responsibility, in order to channel action that provides service
to the community and to obtain and divulge information, material and ideas in
order to promote the social, moral and cultural development of the individual.
At the same time, the city shall contribute to educating activities so that people
can participate in decision-making and planning and in the management processes
involved in the life of associations.
19. The municipality must guarantee sufficient, comprehensible information and
give incentives to its inhabitants to inform themselves of what is going on. Taking
into account the value involved in selecting, understanding and treating the large
flow of information currently available, the educating city shall establish resources
within everyone's reach. The municipality will identify the collectives that require
special attention, and will place at their disposal specialised information, orientation
and help centres.
At the same time, the city shall establish programmes for training in information
and communications technology for all ages and social groups in order to fight
against new forms of exclusion.
20. The educating city must offer all its inhabitants, as a necessary, growing
objective for the community, education in the values and practices of a democratic
citizenry: respect, tolerance, participation, responsibility and interest in things
public, its programmes, heritage and services.
*****
This Charter expresses the commitment of the cities undersigned to all the values
and principles expressed herein. It defines itself as being open to revision and
expansion in respect of all such aspects that swift social evolution may impose
in the future.
