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Lowell marks UNESCO learning-city designation and requests city task force

City of Lowell — City Council / School Committee (joint meeting record) · January 21, 2026
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Summary

Lowell officials and community partners celebrated the city’s designation in UNESCO’s Global Network of Learning Cities and asked the city manager to form a task force including schools and higher-education partners to coordinate learning initiatives and community engagement.

Lowell’s city council on Jan. 21 formally moved to establish a Lowell Learning City task force after a presentation marking the city’s designation in the UNESCO Global Network of Learning Cities. Councilor Chao introduced the request, which asks the city manager to form a task force that includes city council members, representatives of the Lowell City of Learning organization, Lowell Public Schools, UMass Lowell and Middlesex Community College.

The designation was presented by local organizers and volunteers who said Lowell joins roughly 350 cities worldwide in the network and — they said — is the first city in the United States to receive that UNESCO designation. A presenter identified in the meeting as “Mister Wooden” described the long-running volunteer effort and thanked local partners, donors and higher-education collaborators for their support.

Why it matters: proponents told the council the UNESCO label helps marshal resources for lifelong learning, expand neighborhood-based activities and promote workforce and cultural programming. Peg Shanahan, a longtime local contributor to the City of Learning effort, urged council and residents to view the designation as a platform for inclusion and neighborhood-level programming.

Council reaction: several councilors, including Councilor Chao and Councilor Rourke, praised the work of volunteers and institutional partners and supported a motion to place the presentation and related documents on file. The council recorded the roll call associated with the task-force request; the motion advanced and the council asked that the manager report back regularly on progress.

Next steps: the council’s motion asks the city manager to convene the task force, coordinate citywide learning initiatives, promote community engagement and provide regular progress reports back to the council. The council moved to place the UNESCO presentation on file and to move forward with the task-force request.