We are very pleased to be able to publish the latest Briefing Paper from our sister organisation, the PASCAL Observatory. This is Briefing Paper 30 of the observatory and concerns the role of Aesthetic Education in developing Learning Cities, a key focus of PASCAL's work. Amongst the co-authors are a number of University of Glasgow staff members, current, honorary and emeritus (Jim Conroy, Catherine Lido, Maggie McColl, Rob Mark and Mike Osborne), some also members of CR&DALL.

The Water and Fire project, co-led by CR&DALL Director Anna Wilson, used a range of participatory processes to mobilise local knowledges and place literacies about climate-change exacerbated hazards in South Africa’s Cape Flats. In the latest publication from the project, led by Prof Laurence Piper, the team describes how they engaged local authorities and other stakeholders with both key findings and the community co-researchers who generated them.

The second Issue of the Journal of Adult Education is launched at a time when communities on the African continent and beyond continue to experience difficult, and often extremely harsh, socioeconomic issues. We live in a time of unprecedented climate change which is affecting farmers worldwide and limiting food production. In addition to this, the war in Ukraine has had a devastating impact on supplies and prices globally.

This is a special year for for the Scottish Educational Research Association (SERA); we turn 50. This is reflected in our theme as we discuss 'Education in a Fragile World: Past, Present, Future' at the University of Dundee from the 27^th -29^th November 2024. For further details please follow this link, where you will find a call for papers.