Snapshots of learning cities: Gdynia

UNESCO learning cities' responses to COVID-19

When the COVID-19 global pandemic hit in 2020, governments around the world temporarily closed educational institutions in an attempt to contain the spread of the virus. But how did learning continue for young and old during this time?

The UNESCO Institute for Lifelong Learning (UIL) called on its network of 229 UNESCO learning cities to provide insights into their particular handling of the situation. During a UIL webinar series in 2020, they jointly developed strategies and exchanged information about good practices to ensure that learning did not stop.

In our new publication Snapshots of learning cities’ responses to COVID-19, we showcase local responses to COVID-19. The UNESCO learning city of Gdynia, Poland, provided one of them.

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Gdynia, Poland

The Familial Gdynia project aims to help young children, teenagers and parents during the COVID-19 crisis. Each month since the onset of the pandemic, an estimated 1,000 participants have engaged in meetings, events and workshops.

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Continued opportunities

Following lockdown, many of these activities were moved online. The initiative offers diverse online activities, such as concerts, theatre, exhibitions and do-it-yourself projects. In addition, mental and other health advice (e.g. prenatel care and nutrition) can be accessed, along with stories for children and local news.

These activities are intended to encourage people to not only stay home and embrace the temporary shift in their lifestyle, but ensure they continue to have opportunities for personal and familial development.

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Katarzyna ZiemannSocial Innovation Manager at the Social Innovation Laboratory, UNESCO learning city of Gdynia

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Moving the project online

Once activities moved online, hashtags were used as ‘calls to action’: #importantconversation, for example, drew attention to the regular online sessions taking place with mental health experts and discussions about emotions, anxiety, death and loneliness; #otobajkafairytales connected to a daily storytime sessions led by local actors; #childrenathome was a series of videos featuring ideas for games to play at home; #animacjeoli featured ideas for art projects; #comeonchildren linked to 30-minute animations for younger children; and #travellers shared ideas for outside activities.

All videos were interspersed with important information on the pandemic and related restrictions.

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Project challenges

Challenges to carrying out the Familial Gdynia project included funding, communication issues as a result of implementators working from home, lack of equipment for conducting online meetings, and insufficient high-quality internet connectivity.

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Learn more!

Find more cases in our publication Snapshots of learning cities’ responses to COVID-19

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UNESCO Global Network of Learning Cities

The UNESCO Global Network of Learning Cities (GNLC) supports and improves the practice of lifelong learning in member cities by promoting policy dialogue and peer learning, documenting effective strategies and good practice, fostering partnerships, providing capacity development, and developing tools and instruments to design, implement and monitor learning cities strategies.

Become a member!

Photos courtesy of © Shutterstock; Getty Images / goglik83; Gdynia Social Innovation Laboratory; City of Gdynia, Poland

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