UNESCO and the UNESCO Institute for Lifelong Learning (UIL) continue to support Member States during this time of crisis to ensure that learning does not stop. During the past month, UNESCO learning cities have shared their experiences in facing current challenges through webinars on issues such as distance education, refugees and migrants, and health, as well as through video interviews.

"Learning and Living in Diverse Communities" was the theme of the conference that took place in the House of Civic Communities in the city of Pécs, Hungary, in June 2019. It was the 11^th conference which the specialized network on “Between Global and Local – Adult Learning and Communities” of the European Society on the Research for the Education of Adults (ESREA) has been organizing ever since 2006.

As COVID-19 continues spreading in many countries of the world, how to keep learning in disruption has become a major challenge to the global education community. As stated by UNESCO Director-General Audrey Azoulay: “We are entering uncharted territory and working with countries to find hi-tech, low-tech and no-tech solutions to assure the continuity of learning.”

Over recent months (September 2019 to January 2020) I have been visiting Taiwan on three occasions, accompanied by my wife, Caterina. On two previous occasions (2013; 2018) I had presented at Later Life Learning conferences (Chiayi; Taipei), as a guest of the Department of Adult & Continuing Education (DACE) at the National Chung Cheng University (CCU). In September/October, October/November and January of this year, I was a visiting scholar at CCU helping with teaching, research and staff development.