We are pleased to announce the publication of our report, Open Education in European Libraries of Higher Education: Implementing the UNESCO Recommendation on OER.
The report presents the findings of the third edition of our annual survey of European academic libraries on the topic of Open Education (OE) and Open Educational Resources (OER). It explores the work being done by European academic librarians to implement the UNESCO OER Recommendation, almost three years on from its initial publication in November 2019.
Our 2022 survey is structured according to the five areas of action/objectives of the UNESCO OER Recommendation (indicated below) and includes detailed recommendations for each objective:
- Objective 1 — Building capacity;
- Objective 2 — Developing supportive policies;
- Objective 3 — Encouraging diverse, equitable, and inclusive (DEI) access to quality OER;
- Objective 4 — Sustaining OER;
- Objective 5 — Promoting and reinforcing international collaboration.
This report also compares and contrasts differences with last year’s survey results.
We show that awareness of the UNESCO Recommendation has increased year-on-year – particularly this year – with libraries taking more action. On the one hand we are seeing that libraries increasingly getting involved in OE policymaking, and on the other they are getting more involved in supporting OE support and implementation.
Nevertheless, many libraries still need to decide on what role to take in this environment. Building capacity in this area in libraries is still a priority, and this includes leadership skills, which is still one of the library’s key challenges in this area. Furthermore, a critical area of importance in Europe is the need for more targeted work to address DEI effectively in OE and OER work, which is still limited. A lack of resources and few opportunities to engage projects, partly due to few grant funding opportunities, will stand in the way of accelerating open education.
We are sure to see more action to open up Higher Education when libraries continue to collaborate together and with other departments, teachers and learners for more equitable access to quality education.
For any questions, please contact Paola Corti via email at: pcorti@sparceurope.org.
We encourage libraries and their institutions to read the report and the insights therein and spread the word to all interested in the topic.
