Educating
Cities
From Guadalajara (Mexico), we have received 
an integral, healthy recreational experience, 
the Recre-Active Way (Vía RecreActiva), 
which has managed to improve quality of 
life and socialisation by offering alternatives 
for spending one’s free time. 
Guadalajara is the capital city of the Mexi-
can state of Jalisco and is one of the most 
important cultural, industrial and economic 
hubs in the country. The municipality has 
1,646,319 inhabitants and has been opening 
up basic urban spaces for the last three 
years in order to provide free-time activity 
through its Recre-Active Way.
Three years ago the city council of Guadalajara 
presented this project, which consists of 
a series of activities to foster sport, social 
welfare, community development and 
quality of life for its citizens by opening 
up the longest linear park in the city every 
Sunday for 6 hours by using the main public 
thoroughfares of the city. Vehicular traffic 
is closed off and replaced by strollers, 
gymnasts, athletes, cyclists, places for 
reading and games where children, adults 
and the elderly mix.
The Recre-Active Way snakes through 15 
city neighbourhoods and hooks up 10 main 
squares, parks, boulevards, promenades, 
churches and the historical town. This pro-
posal is addressed to all the citizens, inde-
pendently of the neighbourhood in which 
they live, regardless of gender, age, econo- 
mic, education or cultural level. 
The project began in September 2004 on the 
basis (continued on page 2) 
Recreational open-air activities
“The Recre-Active Way is actually 
a series of actions aimed at 
fostering sport, social welfare, 
community development and 
quality of life in the city by
opening up a 21.5 km. linear 
park (the longest park in the city) 
every Sunday for 6 hours.”
Information bulletin • 2007
Educating
cities for a
better world
experience 
The Mexican city of Guadalajara 
promotes healthy open-air 
recreational activities
Nu
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01
International Association of
editorial
It is our pleasure to present the new four-
monthly publication of the International 
Association of Educating Cities (IAEC). 
This is our way of responding to the 
demand expressed by some of the cities 
by providing you with one more tool for 
communication and exchange. Its aim is 
to provide member cities with a selection 
of theoretical and practical articles to 
foster reflection and enable them to gain 
progress towards the educating city.
Each issue of the Bulletin will highlight 
two good practices from the Educating 
Cities International Documents Databank, 
in an attempt to show the geographic 
variety and uniqueness of the cities in the 
Association; the diversity of issues that 
concern them and the different ways of 
tackling them.  
(continued on page 3)
Cities for people: education and social space 
in changing times is the title of the 8th 
Meeting of the Spanish Network of Educating 
Cities, which will be held on 28, 29 and 30 
March in Donostia-San Sebastián. 
This network, which is made up of 177 cities, 
organises a nation-wide meeting every 
2 years in order to move forward in the 
application of the principles of the Charter of 
Educating City, deepening the concept of the 
Educating City and thinking about questions 
of major interest to city development.
Some of the issues that will be dealt with 
at the lectures and round tables are: the 
new educative and social challenges, the 
construction of citizenry, joint developments, 
the city as a place for encounter, 
communication and conflict and a space for 
creation, values and learning.
This meeting will also be a good opportunity 
to exchange experiences and to present the 
results and new proposals of the thematic 
groups, which are: 
- City, education and heritage values. 
- Transversality: the city and education in 
the municipal services. 
- Multi-culturalism and Education. 
- Recreation and Education.  
Participants will have the chance to share 
their concerns, proposals and expecta-
tions on the new challenges that cities face 
in a globalised world taking into account 
the principles set down in the Charter of 
Educating Cities.
For more information go to: 
www.donostia.org/rece
of a preliminary diagnosis, technical traffic 
study and social study.  After the interven-
tion of the administration, the project was 
presented and promoted and then imple-
mented by redesigning the signage along the 
21.5 km. route of roads and thoroughfares. 
Since then it has been opened every Sunday 
without interruption, first from 8.00 a.m. to 
12.00 a.m. but soon given to its great success 
it was extended for two more hours. 
During 2006 an average of 98,000 people 
use this “park” although the intention now 
is to convert the project into a permanent 
city program, increase participation, improve 
security and reinforce the coordinated work, 
and, especially, extend the Recre-Active Way 
to other areas and neighbourhoods in the 
city, especially to the most underprivileged 
areas.
As positive points we should highlight the 
collaboration of private initiative, municipal 
and state bodies; the support and coverage 
of the media, the acceptance by the citizens; 
respect by and support from motorists and 
public transport; the recovery of public 
spaces and the increase in the development 
of new shops near the Way. We have seen, 
however, that there is a need to regulate the 
use of the Recre-Active Way and improve 
the road signs along all the pedestrian 
crossings.
The initial objectives of the programme were 
sundry: to foster sport amongst citizens and 
new healthy habits, improve recreational 
possibilities in public spaces, foster the 
use of alternative means of transport to 
the private automobile, develop a sense of 
belonging to the city and get the citizens to 
commit to peaceful, respectful coexistence 
by fomenting civic awareness (respect for 
others, public spaces and rules).
The Recre-Active Way project has become a 
very positive recreational alternative offering 
visible social, economic and environmen-
tal improvements in the form of socialisa-
tion-coexistence, promotion of the city and 
a wide range of recreational activities and 
has given rise to the design of solutions for 
traffic, services, urban furniture, landscaping 
and road signs.
You can find additional information on this 
experience at www.edcities.org 
presented by: City Council of Guadalajara (Mexico)
contact person: Mr. Luis Enrique Gómez Espejel
General Manager of the Municipal Sport Department
02 Educating Cities
experience
Recre-Active Way
city network
web: http://www.guadalajara.gob.mx
e-mail: legomez@guadalajara.gob.mx
interview
Each issue will also include an interview 
with a representative of local government 
of a city in the IAEC, or a person of 
renowned prestige, with whom we talk 
about the transformations and challenges 
affecting cities and possible ways of 
dealing with them from the perspective 
of the Educating City. 
The territorial and thematic networks will 
have a place where they can report on 
their activities, and we have also reserved 
space to listen to the voices of the cities, 
i.e., your initiatives, concerns, opinions 
and questions.
The structure of the Bulletin will be 
flexible, in order to adapt to your needs 
and demands.  That is why we are 
inviting you to send us your suggestions 
on issues to cover, persons to interview, 
issues to deal with, readings of interest 
and, especially, the experiences of your 
municipalities. 
In order for this new form of communication 
to be useful, interesting and appealing 
WE NEED YOUR COOPERATION!!
The Secretariat of the IAEC
c/Avinyó 15, 4th floor
08002 Barcelona (Spain)
Tel. + 34 93 342 77 20
Fax. +34 93 342 77 29
E-mail: bidce@bcn.cat
Why did Barcelona opt for and continue to 
support Educating Cities?
The city is a source of education. We decided 
to support Educating Cities because, based 
on this conviction, and rooted in the tradition 
and history of the city, we were led to a 
belief in the importance of the relationship 
between education, the city and the citizenry. 
We were starting from a broad conception 
of education, which goes beyond the family 
and the school, and, even though the latter 
are included as indispensable factors, this 
concept contains a multiplicity of agents and 
activities.
(...) Barcelona wanted to share and discuss 
this conviction with other cities. This is why 
it organised the 1st International Congress of 
Educating Cities in 1990, where almost 60 
cities from 20 countries debated and adopted 
the Charter of Educating Cities. Now more 
than 340 cities in 35 countries are continuing 
to work on meeting its principles.
From the point of view of the mayor’s office, 
what do you think an Educating City is?
It is a choice in which education is seen as 
a tool for achieving a citizenry that is more 
educated and cohesive.  It is a permanent, 
ongoing process, which leads us to do things 
differently. 
We understand that education is not only the 
responsibility of a single department. It is a 
commitment of the entire local government 
in response to an undeniable reality. A large 
part of our municipal policies and actions, 
-town planning, sport, environment, culture, 
economic, transport, health-, contain educa-
tive facets, which must be discovered and 
developed through transversal work. (...)
Could you highlight a project or experience in 
Barcelona in the last 20 years that from your 
point of view has strengthened the city as an 
educating space?
I am very proud to affirm that it would be 
very difficult at this time to point to a single 
project that does not have an educating side 
to it, so it would be difficult to highlight a 
single experience.  But to give a few examples, 
we could cite the implementation of selective 
waste collection, the improvement in the 
connection of neighbourhoods to public 
transport, the fostering of public spaces, 
the architectonic adaptation of the city to 
the needs of the disabled, the creation of 
participation councils, the participatory 
design of public spaces, the library plan, the 
pedagogical programs for our museums, the 
civic centres, the health campaigns, etc.  As I 
said before, all our municipal actions have an 
educating facet to them.
What is the most effective way of involving 
citizens in the city’s problems and finding 
solutions? 
By listening a lot and making the participa-
tion of the citizenry visible when decisions 
are being made.  In order to achieve this we 
use different tools, such as the participatory 
councils, the local pacts, tools for electronic 
participation…. I have already said on many 
occasions that I am the mayor for the people 
of Barcelona, and that is why I want to listen 
to all their opinions, and get to know their 
different concerns.  Nothing that happens in 
Barcelona is alien to me. 
In a globalised world, what do you think 
are the most important challenges facing 
Educating Cities?
Global changes have local impacts, which 
in many cases cannot be managed in an 
isolated manner by local governments. They 
require covenants with civil society itself and 
in many cases, international pacts. We could 
talk about the migratory movements from 
rural areas to the cities, and from developing 
countries to developed countries and all the 
challenges they involve: working on the sense 
of belonging to the city, learning how to share 
and get along with different cultures, etc. (...) 
The main challenge that the educating cities 
are facing is the provision of information to 
and communication with all their citizens, the 
fostering of a culture of participation and co-
responsibility, while encouraging transversal 
working methods in order to offer better 
responses to these challenges. 
More information on the website www.edcities.org
Jordi Hereu
Mayor of Barcelona
03 Educating Cities
editorial
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The city of Antwerp, the second largest in 
Belgium, has almost half a million inhabitants; 
its population is growing at a rate of 1.4% 
and people under 25 constitute 28% of the 
population. Approximately 1 out of every 
3 young people leaves the school system 
without a diploma and the unemployment 
rate amongst young people under 25 years 
old is 28.29%.  Four out of every 10 young 
people who are looking for work do not have 
a secondary school diploma and one out of 
30 receives welfare assistance, representing 
20% of the beneficiaries of social services.
In the face of this stark reality and in order 
to avoid an increase in social exclusion and 
unemployment, the city council of Antwerp 
is coordinating, amongst others, the Wacker 
pilot project based on a methodology for 
identifying, evaluating and reinforcing the 
competences of young people acquired in 
non-formal contexts, i.e., outside the school 
system, in order to facilitate their return to 
the system or access to the job market. 
The Wacker project, addressed to young 
people from 16 to 25, began on 1 April 2006 
in Youth Work and it will finish in Septem-
ber 2007.  The objectives of the program 
are as follows: to develop methodologies 
and tools for recognising non-formal and 
informal learning of youth, strengthening 
their self-esteem and improving their com-
petences through self-observation; and, on 
the other hand, to train youth educators in 
competences recognition. 
The program is rolled out as follows: firstly, 
teams are created and an atmosphere of 
trust is established amongst the partici-
pants, and, through a table game, young 
people acquire new competences for day-to-
day situations. 
The educators help the group of young 
people to recognise, define and identify 
their own competences through the 
preparation of a personal dossier based on 
accreditable information.  The individual 
results are discussed with their colleagues 
and evaluated amongst their peers. 
The personal dossier is rounded out by 
integrating the results of the evaluation in the 
previous phase and a personal development 
is established in which the competences 
are evaluated on the basis of their possible 
applications and uses. 
As a tool of support for the program a 
municipal website is being prepared where 
one can find different tools for identifying 
competences that can be used by educators, 
teachers and youth.  
The learning acquired in non-formal contexts 
is a recent issue in national and local policy 
in Belgium.  In Antwerp the debate began in 
the second half of 2004, and since January 
2005 it has become a priority in education 
and youth policies. Thanks to the Wacker 
project, a debate has begun inside different 
youth organisations, and a positive reaction 
has been noted amongst young people: they 
are open to participation.
You can find more detailed information on this ex-
perience at the website www.edcities.org.
experience 
16 cities have joined the IAEC since the last 
General Assembly (September 2006).
The Brazilian Network is holding its 4th Meeting 
on 12 and 13 April in Salvador de Bahía.
The Mexican cities in the IAEC are meeting 
in Playa del Carmen on mid April to discuss 
setting up a territorial network. 
The period for submitting candidacies for or-
ganising the 11th International Congress of 
Educating Cities in 2010 has been opened. 
Lisbon will be hosting the next IAEC 
Extraordinary General Assembly on 16 
November 2007.
The city of Antwerp is working to integrate 
young people into the education system 
and labour market
presented by: City Council of Antwerp
contact person: Ms. Kelly Broos
Pedagogical Advisor of the Department of Education
1. The Senior citizens University of 
Quebec (Canada) has adapted various 
types of university education to the needs 
of people over 50 years old, in order to 
promote their individual, cultural and social 
development. 
www.ulaval.ca/dgfc/age3/index.html
2. The City Council of Tampere (Finland), 
companies and universities in the city are 
collaborating on the eTampere program to 
promote knowledge, business, public digital 
services and the acquisition of the needed 
skills for the knowledge society. 
www.etampere.fi
3.  The Metrocable of Medellín (Colombia) 
connects the underground with a cable car. 
This initiative has been accompanied by 
educative and recreational activities addressed 
to the citizens. This is an innovative system 
of public transit that contributes to improving 
mobility and socio-economic development 
of areas that had been segregated by the 
mountainous terrain of the city. 
www.metrodemedellin.org.co
04 Educating Cities
did you know that... the voices of the cities
“The Wacker project uses a 
methodology to identify, evalu-
ate and reinforce the compe-
tences of young people acquired 
outside the education system”. 
ESF: bijdragen tot de ontwikkeling van de 
werkgelegenheid door het bevorderen van 
inzetbaarheid, ondernemerschap, aanpas-
baarheid en gelijke kansen en door het 
investeren in menselijke hulpbronnen.
web: http://www.antwerpen.be
e-mail: kelly.broos@stad.antwerpen.be
k                                        m