The 18^th PASCAL Observatory conference, Sustainable Development Futures: From Knowledge to Practice, hosted by the University of the Philippines from 12-13 November 2024 and held in collaboration with the 5^thInternational Conference on Urban and Regional Planning (ICURP5) has been successfully concluded. Some 400+ delegates from amongst other countries Germany, India, Ireland, South Africa, the UK, the US and of course the Philippines and other countries in South-East Asia attended the event. The opening keynote of the conference was presented by Professor Emeritus Michael Osborne from the School of Education, University of Glasgow, and was entitled, The Role of Local Government in Delivering Sustainable Development Goal 4. It drew on work conducted on behalf of United Cities and Local Governments presented to the 2022 UN High Level Political Forum in New York, and of the ESRC-funded Centre for Sustainable Healthy Learning Cities and Neighbourhoods. A second keynote presentation, Challenges in the Pursuit of Sustainable Development Options: the Case of the Philippines, was made by Christopher Rollo, Country Programme Manager, United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-HABITAT). Dr Rob Mark, Honorary Senior Research Fellow and PASCAL Learning Cities Co-ordinator, was a discussant within a Panel Session on Urban Spaces, Lifelong Places: Cultivating Continuous Learning in Cities, reflecting core research foci at the University of Glasgow not only within PASCAL but also in CR&DALL.

Amongst many contributions notable were those from local and regional government, reflecting the core mission of PASCAL to facilitate knowledge exchange between cities/regions and higher education in the pursuit of creating better places. These included reflections from the Hon. Nicholas Yulo, Bago City, Negros Occidental, Hon. Mar-Len Abigail S. Binay, Makati City and EnP Ronnie L. Lindog, Municipality of Sariaya, Quezon Province. These cities have been invited to join PASCAL’s Learning Cities Networks.  Other inputs included those from the Asian Development Bank, the Philippine Institute of Development Studies (PIDS), ICLEI Local Governments for Sustainability and Catholic Relief Services

Towards its conclusion a call to action was presented on behalf of all delegates from Dr. Mario de los Reyes, Director, PASCAL Asia, University of Philippines,  Assoc. Prof. Dina Magnaye, Director of University of Philippine School of Urban and Regional Planning (SURP), Prof. Sheilah Napalang, Deputy Director PASCAL Asia, University of the Philippines,  Prof. Marius Venter, Director of PASCAL Africa, University of Johannesburg, Dr. Rob Mark, PASCAL Learning Cities Co-ordinator and Honorary Senior Research Fellow,  University of Glasgow and Prof. Emeritus Michael Osborne, Chair of PASCAL Executive Steering Group, University of Glasgow as follows:

1. Extend the reach of the PASCAL Asia-Pacific Centre and its associate centres to other countries in its areas of territorial responsibility 
2. Collaborate with other key actors in the continent, and where appropriate enter into Memoranda of Understanding
3. Establish national networks of learning cities in Asia, beginning in the Philippines with invitations to Makati City and Bago City
4. Offer concrete tools for evaluation of place-based work to both cities and universities, drawing on previous PASCAL Observatory research and development
5. Offer training programmes drawing on existing resources within the PASCAL Network
6. Focus on rural challenges (e.g. agricultural/farmer education, biodiversity, disaster management) through research, capacity building, and urban/rural linkages, emphasizing informal learning, technology, and mindset shifts, with insights shared via PASCAL Briefing Papers.
7. Facilitate communities and municipalities in conceptualising actionable projects from the ground up.

The conference concluded with warmly received closing remarks from Chancellor Edgardo Carlo L. Vistan II, LLM, Chancellor, University of the Philippines Diliman.