Join the city network

"Democracy has many meanings, but when it has a moral meaning it expresses the distinction that all political institutions and industrial arrangements will contribute to the overall growth of each and every member of society."

Why now?

In Israel, elections for the Knesset (Israel’s parliament) that are enforced on citizens of the state are an opportunity to present "an educational agenda" to the lawmakers - an agenda to be implemented by heads of large local authorities in Israel. In tandem with the municipal elections now taking place, there is an opening for five years of activity – a good span of time for building a program and implementing it in the field.

Why heads of local authorities?

• The country is facing its fifth national elections over the past decade, in a state where each incoming Minister of Education creates a new situation. Heads of local authorities have a term of office of at least five years, and they are strong anchors that can lead an educational revolution - for which the first condition for success is long-term planning.
• The localisation advantage - local authorities can adapt the educational program to the nature and needs of the local population.
• Pooling resources - integrating entities and programs working in the same place.

Targets

To create a network of educating cities that will –

• place education at the head of the national agenda
• see education as a central tool in promoting the country
• present good-quality alternative options to current education.
• influence decision-makers at the national level.

Background

The idea of Educating Cities, as presented on the international website of Educating Cities, is that cities can choose to position education at the head of their priorities – driven by the belief that developing education leads to improving the general quality of life in the city.

In the Introduction - written by Gérard Collomb, mayor of Lyon, the city that hosted the Ninth Conference of Educating Cities in September 2006 - he maintains that education is the real challenge. It is education that engages with the core process that makes our children into future citizens. To be an educating city means, Collomb says, building a city that allows everyone to recognise their capacities and to bring them to fulfilment and expression in the city.

How?

Ten heads of local authorities present the structure of Israeli society that can lead the change –

• The Conference - Educating Cities
• Drawing up a treaty for excellence in education
• Structuring different models to implement the treaty’s ideas - according to each city’s needs
• Applying the model in the city, and presenting its results nationwide.

For more details, phone 052 – 6710797