Judith James is an Honorary Senior Research Fellow at the University of Glasgow, where she leads the 'Reimagining Inclusive Economic Futures' Learning City Network of the PASCAL Observatory. She is currently acting as a consultant for the development of Learning Cities and has recently worked with the South-East Asia Network of Learning Cities, the Australian Learning Communities Network, UNESCO Institute for Lifelong Learning, Shanghai Open University, Derby Learning City and Swansea Learning City. 

Judith James worked in Swansea University for 30 years and retired as Head of Strategic Regional Collaboration in 2020. She has extensive experience in developing student entrepreneurship and employability, equality and diversity, and widening participation from under-represented groups. Her roles in Swansea University included establishing Swansea Employability Academy and as Deputy Head of the Department of Adult Continuing Education.  

Judith was a member of the UNESCO Expert Group on Developing Learning Cities and contributed to the development of the UNESCO Global Network for Learning Cities (GNLC). She brought the UNESCO Learning City Pilot to Swansea and one of her major achievements was helping Swansea gain the UNESCO Learning City Award in 2015. She co-edited “Entrepreneurial Learning City Regions” (2018) with Raul Valdes-Cotera, UNESCO Institute for Lifelong Learning and is currently working on further contributions with UIL. Judith has recently retired as a Trustee of the Ospreys in the Community.