PopRua Employability is one 
of the action priorities of 
the municipal administration 
of Sao Paulo, which seeks 
the social inclusion of the 
homeless through vocational 
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experience 
PopRua Employability, an initiative from 
JXfGXlcf]fiafY$Ôe[`e^]fik_\_fd\c\jj
editorial
Democratic quality is a broad concept and 
refers both to public policies driven by 
governments and how their institutions and 
associations function.
Organisations, and ours is no exception, often 
focus their efforts on complying with their 
organisational mission and the objectives of 
their action plans. In the meantime, dialogue, 
exchange, interaction, communication and 
the participation of the members in the life of 
the association is taken for granted. However, 
these dynamics are not automatic and their 
management is not always easy and require 
constant effort in order to open new channels 
and motivate their use.
As in the same way that many of the needs 
and challenges that cities must face today can 
be worked out best through collaboration, the 
IAEC starts from the conviction that in order 
to meet its founding objectives the active 
participation of its members is necessary. 
There is no doubt that one of the values of 
the IAEC is that it is a shared project that is 
being built on the basis of the commitment 
2014
19
Sao Paulo is a megalopolis of more than 11 
d`cc`fe`e_XY`kXekjXe[k_\dX`eÔeXeZ`Xc
Z\eki\ f] 9iXq`c% 8ck_fl^_ k_\ Z`kp `j
an economic power, the major economic 
inequalities pose an enormous challenge 
to the local administration in order to 
guarantee quality of life for the entire 
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One of the main problems these people face 
is their lack of permanent integration into the 
labour market. Their inclusion in part means 
that their income is generated through the 
underground economy. That is why through 
this initiative we are seeking to increase their 
ZXgXZ`kp kf Ôe[ X afY Xe[ kf gifm`[\ k_\d
with the chance to work, which will in turn 
offer them an end to homelessness. 
Participation in this program is voluntary. A 
team of educators is in charge of individual 
and group guidance for the participants 
[li`e^ k_\ kiX`e`e^g_Xj\Xe[ k_\Ôijk afY$
Ôe[`e^ g_Xj\# i\`e]fiZ`e^ j\c]$\jk\\d Xe[
working on the acquisitions of procedures 
and norms of behaviour, as well as the social 
skills necessary in the labour market. 
In order to facilitate attendance at the 
training sessions, the participants receive a 
small stipend for transport and meals, as well 
as for course attendance (2 Brazilian Reals 
– 60 cents – per class hour), since course 
attendance takes time away from their daily 
occupations from which they make a living. 
Some of the courses offer training in the 
(continued on page 2) (continued on page 3) 
“PopRua Employability” began in March 2013 
gi\Z`j\cp `e fi[\i kf ]fjk\i jfZ`f$cXYfli$
related inclusion of the most vulnerable social 
groups: the homeless. 
02 Educating Cities
 Meeting of the Portuguese Network
The Mayor of Odemira, Mr. José Alberto 
Candeias Guerreiro, opened the Meeting of the 
Portuguese Network last 7 July.  After that, 
Mr. José Carlos Bravo Nico, member of the 
National Portuguese Education Council, gave 
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formal Education”.  
During the Meeting the city of Almada was 
selected as venue for the next National 
Congress, and the Portuguese participation at 
the 13th International Congress of Educating 
Cities was discussed. Afterwards, meetings 
of the thematic networks were held, to 
wit: Local Educative Projects; Democracy 
and Participation; Inclusion and Ties to the 
Community.
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The General Assembly of the French Network 
took place on 4 and 5 July in Paris. During 
the Assembly the 2013 Activities and 
Financial Reports were adopted, as well as 
the 2014 Budget. Furthermore, the city 
of Brest was chosen as the new Network 
coordinating city.
During the Assembly there was discussion 
and debate on issues of special interest to 
the French cities, such as, early childhood, 
reforming school hours and reforming city 
policy. Furthermore, the IAEC Secretariat 
repor ted  on  the  sta tus  of  the  next 
International Congress and reiterated its 
invitation to the French cities.
 Meeting of technical experts of the 
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After the recent municipal elections in South 
Korea, 19 delegates from 14 member cities 
met on 4 July in Changwon in order to prepare 
the participation of the cities in the region for 
the 13th International Congress and plan the 
work to be done in the coming months.
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following jobs: clerk, electrician, warehouse 
worker, food handler, mechanic, baker, 
mason, doorman, chamber maid, etc.
These courses are carried out through 
the National Technical Training and 
Federal Government Job Access Program 
(PRONATEC), with the collaboration of the 
National Industrial Apprenticeship Service 
(SENAI) and the National Commercial 
Apprenticeship Service (SENAC).  
Given the necessity for a comprehensive 
response to the different needs of this group, 
k_\`e`k`Xk`m\ `j `ek\i$[\gXikd\ekXc#Xe[ZXe
count on the participation of the Department 
of Social Assistance and Development, the 
Department of Human Rights and Citizenship 
and the Department of Health of the City 
Council of Sao Paulo. It is expected that other 
departments will collaborate in the future.
Another basic aspect of the success of 
the program has been the collaboration 
of different companies, which offer job 
opportunities for people who have taken the 
courses. This unites vocational training with 
a real job. Of special note is the fact that this 
program is one of the priority actions of the 
current municipal administration, and the 
Mayor in person is leading the meetings with 
business people in order to make them aware 
of the issue as well as guarantee integration 
into the labour market of the program 
trainees.
In spite of being a recent initiative, the initial 
results can already be seen. In December 
2013, 193 people of the 402 registered 
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obtained a diploma, and in May 2014, 53 
trainees found a job. At this time there are 7 
collaborating companies, which are involved 
in activities such as: solid waste collection 
and treatment, urban services, construction, 
electricity distribution, sale of spare vehicle 
parts, and services.
Pfl ZXe Ôe[ dfi\ [\kX`c\[ `e]fidXk`fe XYflk
k_`j\og\i`\eZ\Xkk_\n\Yj`k\1nnn%\[Z`k`\j%fi^
presented by: City Council of Sao Paulo,
Department of Human Rights and Citizenship 
experience
cities networks
contact: Dj%M`i^ˆe`XClqJZ_d`[k# 
8jj`jkXekZffi[`eXkfif]?fd\c\jjGfc`Z`\j
e-mail: Zffi[gfgilX7gi\]\`kliX%jg%^fm%Yi
PopRua Employability, an initiative from Sao 
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03 Educating Cities
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A marvellous, inclusive, modern, burgeoning, 
innovative and human city. Rosario is a 
pluralistic city from the ethnic, religious and 
political point of view. A place where people 
are the priority. 
It is also a city that is looking toward the 
future and is developing in a sustainable way, 
irrevocably committed, convinced that the 
Z`kpËj^ifnk_dljk^f_Xe[$`e$_Xe[n`k_k_\
urban environment, the quality of life and the 
health of our inhabitants.
By emphasizing planning, consensus seeking, and 
a constant educative spirit, we will preserve the 
welfare of the present and future generations.
Rosario has achieved high degrees of quality of 
life that make it one of the best cities to live in. 
Why is it important for the City Council of 
Rosario to be closed to its citizens? How is 
this accomplished?
Since 1995 the City Council of Rosario has 
been in the process of decentralization of 
the local administration in order to generate 
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friendly city, and foster a more harmonious, 
democratic urban development. Thus, today, 
Rosario is organized into six districts, with six 
District Municipal Centers. Basically, these 
are meeting spaces for residents and citizen 
participation; places where there action is 
coordinated between the local government 
and other public and private bodies and NGOs. 
Why is participation important and how do 
you motivate it?
Citizen participation is one of the most important 
experiences not only for cities and local 
governments but also for people themselves. 
By participating one transforms the reality 
around him/her, but especially oneself. 
We in the Rosario City Council have an idea 
of participatory democracy, in which the 
citizenry is involved in government while 
feeling aware of the implications of their 
behaviour and daily decisions.
The Participatory Budget is one of the 
clearest examples in this sense and poses, 
as a local government, the responsibility for 
complying with the decisions made in order to 
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Is there a local Educating City Committee? 
What is its mission?
Working transversally on the principles of 
the Charter and identifying in what way 
our policies and actions contribute to the 
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are designing mechanisms to link this work 
to the social organisations, the councillors 
and advisors of the Participatory Budget, the 
members of the Economic and Social Council, 
and the living forces of the city. 
IfjXi ` f  n ` c c  _fjk  k_\  @8<:  (+k_
@ek\ieXk`feXc:fe^i\jj%N_Xk`jk_\k_\d\
proposed for this congress? 
“Areas of Coexistence in Our Cities”, by this 
we mean that in order to think the city we are 
Yl`c[`e^[Xp$kf$[Xp#Xe[n_`Z_#`egXik#n\
dream for the future, we must conceive the 
different areas as meeting places and spaces 
for dialogue that foster conviviality and 
avoid fragmentation, focusing on three main 
challenges: the challenge to build our cities, 
the challenge of equality of opportunities and 
the challenge of living in the city. 
Could you highlight an educating city best 
practice that is an example of Rosario’s 
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Until recently, Rosario was a city that had 
expanded with its back to the river, and where a 
major portion of the river bank was inaccessible 
kfk_\Z`k`q\ej%K_\e#`ek_\d`[$0'j#k_\dfjk
important process of urban transformation and 
renewal began. Since that time, the city has 
lived through an intense, continuous urban 
planning process which has resulted in the 
“opening of the city to the river” through the 
generation of a new urban façade.
The stamp that the City Council of Rosario has 
imprinted on this process is the reaffirmation 
of the public use of these areas, through the 
construction of a series of parks, squares and 
‘balconies’ facing the river, with the clear goal of 
fostering the use of these spaces by the citizenry.
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Having contr ibuted something to the 
construction of a city that is fairer, more 
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greater equality of opportunity.
I want every child in Rosario that is born 
today, equal in rights, to be able to grow up 
and mature in a city that allows him/her to 
interview
and complicity of many cities and individuals. 
We are proud of our history. There is a basis 
of a lot of work well done, which is not the 
property of any single city or individual but of 
all local governments that are working actively 
to improve social cohesion, coexistence 
and equality of opportunities by investing in 
Educating City policies.
Our international movement has many 
cities that share tasks and responsibilities. 
This helps us to increase effectiveness and 
provide us good knowledge of the motivation 
and interests of the cities in very different 
and distant countries. It also contributes to 
bringing the Association closer to its members, 
increasing their degree of satisfaction.
After 20 years we think that this is the right 
time to analyse the road taken since the 
Charter of Educating Cities was adopted for 
k_\Ôijk k`d\ `e(00'Xe[ kf af`ekcp `[\ek`]p
the priorities by setting them down in a new 
Strategic Plan.
We are convinced that listening, 
understanding, learning and cooperating are 
the keys to progress. That is why we invite 
you to invent our collective future together, 
by sending in your proposals and concerns 
over the next few months in order to bring 
our framework of action into line with the 
new challenges that cities are facing today. 
In permanent dialogue with our members, 
under clear, shared priorities, and generating 
alliances with other international bodies and 
civil society, the IAEC will continue to be 
source of inspiration for local policies.
K_\J\Zi\kXi`Xkf]k_\@8<:
Dj%De`ZX=\`e
DXpfif]IfjXi`f#8i^\ek`eX editorial
dream of a better future. So that each young 
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their city.
What message would you send to encourage 
Z`k`\jkfaf`ek_\@8<:6
I would tell those that are still not members 
that they should be encouraged to dream 
their cities as large educative spaces for 
their citizens. That it is possible to build 
better cities that can contribute to creating 
a better world and that the way to do so is 
by embracing the principles of the Charter of 
Educating Cities.
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JX`ek$yk`\ee\` jX=i\eZ_Z`kpcfZXk\[` ek_\
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k_\Cf`i\#-'bd%]ifdk_\Z\eki\f]Cpfe%@k
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inhabitants while its greater metropolitan 
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Thanks to a commitment of the public 
administration and the industrial sector, design 
has been a driver of urban transformation and 
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Étienne, which has improved the quality of 
life of the city’s inhabitants.  An example of 
this policy was the 1998 International Design 
9`\ee`Xc f] JX`ek$yk`\ee\# [\[`ZXk\[ kf
innovation and research in this area. In 2010 
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by UNESCO, in recognition of the place design 
fZZlg`\j`eXccÔ\c[jf]Z`kpc`]\%
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ago, and were in need of constant renovation 
and maintenance. With the idea of uniting the 
concepts of “refurbishment” and “design”, 
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set up this pilot participatory experience in 
the refurbishing of school spaces, which has 
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schools in the city. Through this project 
students and teachers have been able to 
jointly rethink school space and propose new 
uses and designs.
This initiative, as part of a regional program 
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in the City”, hopes to contribute to the 
sustainable development and welfare of the 
city’s inhabitants through design understood as 
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new trends and concepts with a social function. 
The City Council in collaboration with the Boris 
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Design are in charge of its management.
In order to carry out the experience there 
has been collaboration from designers – one 
for each school – who are responsible for 
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to each students’ age groups, in order to 
approach notions of space, atmosphere, colour, 
etc., and both make the students aware of the 
hlXc`kpf]c`]\Xe[af`ekcpi\Õ\Zkfe` dgifm`e^k_\
functionality of school spaces (library, corridors, 
staircases, lunchroom, schoolyard, etc.).
The workshops, linked to school subjects, 
have allowed the students to observe their 
environment and rethink its uses, as well as 
contribute to conceiving of the new spaces, 
activating their imagination and making them 
articulate their proposals. Thus, they saw 
that the libraries were not used very much, 
that there was no room in the schoolyards for 
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that the lunchroom was too noisy at mealtime 
and that the corridors were underutilized. 
Proposals then followed to improve these 
problems. Moreover, this experience has 
allowed the students to discover different 
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Given the positive results, guided tours of the 
5 refurbished schools were included in the 
program of events of the 2013 Design Biennial. 
Moreover, the City Council decided to continue 
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year, through a call for projects using the same 
working method, which has come to be a model 
for future interventions.
experience 
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school! , an experience in Saint-Étienne 
 More than 130 cities have submitted more 
than 600 experiences to the 13th International 
Congress of the IAEC. The number of 
experiences received shows the interest of 
the cities in the theme of the Congress: social 
inclusion.
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speakers and the program of the Congress at: 
iaec2014.bcn.cat/en/
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Saint-Étienne uses design 
as a resource for fostering 
student participation in the 
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presented by: City Council of Saint-Étienne
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contact: Dj%:Xifc`e\MXn Der Heijde , 
Head of the Education Service
e-mail: \[lZXk`fe7jX`ek$\k`\ee\%]i
04 Educating Cities
 The Association organised a presentation 
workshop on the principles of the Charter 
of Educating Cities in Osijek (Croatia) in 
which representatives of different municipal 
departments  and c iv ic  organisat ions 
participated. Furthermore, delegates from 
various cities in the region attended.
 It is expected that 4 Brazilian cities (Santo 
André, Sao Bernardo do Campo, Santos and 
Itapetininga) will host the travelling exhibition: 
“Educating Cities: Local Actions, Global 
Values” between August and November 2014.
 12 new cities from 5 countries have joined 
the IAEC since the beginning of the year, 
bringing the total membership to 475 cities in 
36 countries.
 After one year of work, the IAEC launched 
a new more intuitive more attractive Internet 
portal that can be updated quickly and simply. 
You can visit the new portal at: www.edcities.org 
© Studio Bisbee / Olivier Deléage