The XVIII International Congress of Educating Cities, which will be held in Granollers from May 26 to 29, will feature fourteen world-renowned speakers in different disciplines: from pedagogy, sociology, philosophy and urban planning, to culture, art and journalism. Their voices will be of great importance in reflecting on the educational role of cities. They can be consulted all the speakers in this link.

During the presentation of the program, which took place this Monday at the Granollers Museum, the names of these experts have been revealed. All of them will be the protagonists of the two conferences and the six dialogues who will be part of the program. The selection of these speakers has been carried out by the experts of the scientific committee of the Congress.

Under the title “Education and culture in the city: community, critical sense and creativity”, these speakers will speak around the three thematic axes of the meeting:

• Community: Building a “we” that reinforces the feeling of belonging to a shared city.
• Critical sense: To form a citizenry capable of analyzing information and resisting simplifying and manipulative discourses.
• Creativity: Promote a city with tools and strategies to face present and future challenges.

Another highlight of the program has to do with the 100 educational experiences that the congress participants will share during the Congress. These one hundred projects come from 95 cities in 16 countries —for example Seoul (South Korea), Buenos Aires (Argentina), Brussels (Belgium), Lisbon (Portugal), Sao Paulo (Brazil), Montevideo (Uruguay) or Medellín (Colombia)— and have been selected from 185 experiences presented. The presentations will be made in three modalities:

• Workshops: For two hours each city will have 10 minutes to present its experience. (45 experiences)
• Direct dialogues: In small groups, each city will have 8 minutes to present its experience. (35 experiences)
• Posters: This modality allows you to present experiences visually. (20 experiences)

Besides the opening and closing ceremonies, the program also includes the so-called study visits. These sessions will help congress participants to learn “in situ” about educational experiences that are carried out in Granollers and in surrounding municipalities. Both the one hundred experiences and the study visits are linked to the three axes of the Congress. The Congress program will also include space for various meetings of the representatives who are part of the’International Association of Educating Cities (AICE).