Pictured launching this years festival were, Mayor of Limerick City and County, Cllr. Michael Collins with “learning Ambassadors, Tom Kearns, Chinazo Nnaya, Breda Butterfield and Patricia Sheehan. Picture: Alan Place
The Limerick Lifelong Learning Festival takes place from Monday 24th – Sunday 30th May, with the very timely theme of ‘New Futures, New Adventures in Learning’. The festival has grown over the past 11 years and this is the second time for it to be run as a virtual festival. This annual event has not let the ongoing pandemic impede it and continues to explore many different forms of learning. In fact, learning is not always in the classroom and there are now many opportunities for learning by doing and actively learning online. With over 100 free workshops and events in this year’s programme, there is certainly something for everyone to choose from; Painting for Recreation and Pleasure, Politics in a Time of Crisis, Mindful Walking, Language tasters, Transition to Higher Education, a Virtual Self-Portrait Exhibition, a Community Wellness Activity Workshop and LinkedIn for Learning and Networking.
The flagship event for the festival this year is a live interview and panel discussion event with the Learning Limerick Ambassadors. One of the Learning Ambassadors, Lylian Fotabong, will be interviewing her fellow Ambassadors about their learning adventures and future plans for both their careers and continued learning. The interactive interviews will then be followed by a panel discussion to include Learning City partners from the Irish Network of Learning Cities.
Speaking at the recent launch of the festival, Mayor Michael Collins said: “At the heart of the festival are the people in local communities the length and breadth of Limerick, who continue to support and attend the festival events. We continue to celebrate the resilience of our local communities. I am particularly delighted to see our Learning Limerick Ambassadors running an event on the first day of the festival. This is a wonderful grassroots initiative that brings the Festival into the everyday lives of people…and this can only be a good thing.”
Speaking at the launch event Eimear Brophy, Limerick and Clare Education and Training Board, Chairperson of the Learning Limerick Steering Group, said: “The festival also celebrates Limerick as a UNESCO Learning City-Region. The Learning Limerick Steering Group is a proud member and award winner of the UNESCO Global Network of Learning Cities (GNLC). This network supports and improves the practice of lifelong learning in the world’s cities. Running the festival with virtual elements offers the added advantage that a wider range of topics can be part of the programme and also attendees can come from anywhere, offering their unique perspective.”
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