The First World OER Congress will be held 20-22 June 2012 at UNESCO headquarters in Paris, France. Organized in cooperation with the Commonwealth of Learning (COL), the Congress aims to influence educational planning worldwide and to encourage governments to support the development and use of open educational resources.

The specific objectives of the Congress are to:

1. Showcase the world's best practices in OER policies, initiatives, and experts
2. Release a 2012 Paris OER Declaration calling on governments to support the development and use of OER
3. Celebrate the 10th anniversary of the 2002 UNESCO Forum that created the term OER

As part of an extensive global consultation process, the Congress will be preceded by six regional Policy Forums for ministers and officials in the Caribbean, Latin America, Europe, Africa, Asia and the Arab States.

The role of ICDE

ICDE has been invited by UNESCO to cooperate in the framework of the Congress. The ICDE Executive Committee has accepted the invitation, and a partnership for the 2012 World OER Congress is established. In its first stages, ICDE has consulted with regional associations and organizations within open and distance learning to secure their input to the process.

It is proposed that ICDE and regional associations will:

• create awareness and promote the Congress to their members, partners and contacts
• identify and engage with members to secure active participation in the Congress
• identify good practices in OER and provide input to the Congress

ICDE also sees follow up of the World OER Congress as an important issue for consideration.

More Information about the Congress

Introduction: Open educational resources (OER) are any type of educational materials in the public domain, or released with an open license, that allows users to legally and freely use, copy, adapt, and re-share. OERs present a strategic opportunity to improve the quality of education as well as facilitate policy dialogue, knowledge sharing and capacity building.

The global challenge: Despite the great success of OER initiatives such as the OpenCourseware (OCW) Consortium, African Virtual University OER Portal, Teacher Education in Sub-Saharan Africa (TESSA), Khan Academy, and countless examples at secondary school level, OERs are not mainstreamed in education planning. Moreover awareness of the costs and benefits of OER is still very limited.

Target Audience: The Congress will bring together Ministers of Education/Human Resource Development, senior policy makers, expert practitioners, researchers and relevant stakeholders to discuss what works and what won't work, and to agree on a Declaration with a set of targets for a 2015 World Conference.

website: www.unesco.org/webworld/en/oer

From: http://www.icde.org/en/icde_news/UNESCO+World+OER+Congress.b7C_wJrQ5Y.ips