The Urban School, member of the Global Urban Network

the Urban School participated at the first meeting of the world's urban institutes, hosted by the School of Cities, University of Toronto.

25 urban institutes from across five continents participated in this Global Urban Network Workshop to exchange ideas and experiences concerning the impact of their programming on urban research, teaching and learning, outreach and engagement.

During two busy days, the Urban School contributed to the common discussion concerning opportunities for international collaboration on student exchanges, joint field courses, doctoral clusters, virtual classrooms, conferences and more. Outreach and partnerships were also relevant topics on the table. We examined opportunities for global collaboration with governments, industry, non-profits and local community organizations that can advance education and research objectives. In the last session, we had also a panel discussion between scholars and city builders exploring mechanisms and processes of collaborations crossing industry and community perspectives with scholars and teachers needs and outlooks. Participants at the workshop compared strategies to address access to sustained funding, faculty and student engagement, actionable long-term partnerships. We discussed skills and knowledge necessary for the next generation of urban practitioners.

The workshop received support from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada. The next meeting will be next February in Abu Dhabi, during Un Habitat World Urban Forum, moving forward toward the constitution of an Association of Urban Institutes.