Raúl Valdés-Cotera

Mr Raúl Valdés-Cotera is Team Leader at the UNESCO Institute for Lifelong Learning in Hamburg, Germany and coordinator of the UNESCO Global Network of Learning Cities. For almost twenty years he has worked in international organizations in the field of public policy, lifelong learning, youth and adult education, and educational planning.

He has been a forerunner for development and implementation of lifelong learning policies and strategies and for the recognition, validation and accreditation of non-formal and informal learning outcomes in several countries around the world.

Raúl holds a Ph.D. in Education and has led various research and advocacy projects such as Conceptual Evolution and Policy Developments in Lifelong Learning (2011), Analysis of Public Policies in basic Education of Young People and Adults: Comparing the cases of Mexico and Brazil (2013), Educating Cities in Latin America (2013), Unlocking the Potential of Urban Communities (2015, 2017), Entrepreneurial Learning City Regions (2017), Promoting lifelong learning for all: The experience of Ethiopia, Kenya, Namibia, Rwanda and the United Republic of Tanzania (2018), Realising lifelong learning for all: Governance and partnerships in building sustainable learning cities (2019) and more recently “Making Lifelong Learning a reality: A Handbook” (2022).