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<article xsi:noNamespaceSchemaLocation="http://jats.nlm.nih.gov/publishing/1.1/xsd/JATS-journalpublishing1-mathml3.xsd" dtd-version="1.1" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink" xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance"><front><journal-meta><journal-id journal-id-type="publisher-id">erd</journal-id><journal-title-group><journal-title>Education Reform and Development</journal-title></journal-title-group><issn>2652-5364</issn><eissn>2652-5372</eissn><publisher><publisher-name>Bio-Byword Scientific Publishing Pty. Ltd.</publisher-name></publisher></journal-meta><article-meta><article-id pub-id-type="doi">10.26689/erd.v8i5.15321</article-id><article-categories><subj-group subj-group-type="heading"><subject>Article</subject></subj-group></article-categories><title>Research on Enrollment Difficulties and Breakthrough Paths of Open Education from the Perspective of Learning City: Based on the Practical Exploration of Ningbo Open University</title><url>https://artdesignp.com/journal/erd/8/5/10.26689/erd.v8i5.15321</url><author>HuLinhong</author><pub-date pub-type="publication-year"><year>2026</year></pub-date><volume>8</volume><issue>5</issue><history><date date-type="pub"><published-time>2026-06-30</published-time></date></history><abstract>With the accelerating iteration of knowledge, lifelong learning has been integrated into the daily rhythm of urban development. Since Ningbo included “Learning City” in its planning, adult education has become a cornerstone rather than a supplement. As part of Ningbo’s higher education system, Ningbo Open University has undertaken a large number of “cornerstone” projects in promoting adult education and lifelong learning. However, Ningbo Open University is also facing enrollment difficulties in the process of learning city construction. The investigation shows that the enrollment dilemmas of Ningbo Open University are mainly reflected in the disconnection between market demand and enrollment supply, insufficient publicity, mismatched curriculum provision with social needs, and low social recognition. In response to these problems, this paper puts forward a series of strategies such as strengthening social publicity, optimizing curriculum provision, building school-enterprise cooperation platforms, and expanding enrollment channels, so as to provide effective solutions to Ningbo Open University’s enrollment difficulties.</abstract><keywords/></article-meta></front><body/><back><ref-list><ref id="B1" content-type="article"><label>1</label><element-citation publication-type="journal"><p>Qu S, 2025, Research on Enrollment Dilemmas and School-running System Optimization Strategies of Beijing Open Education under the Background of Learning Society. Society and Public Welfare, 2025(06): 365–368.</p><pub-id pub-id-type="doi"/></element-citation></ref><ref id="B2" content-type="article"><label>2</label><element-citation publication-type="journal"><p>Zhang W, Liu H, 2021, Research on Dilemmas and Countermeasures of Grass-roots Open Education Enrollment. 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