OpenMed final conference in Rome

An Open Future for Mediterranean Higher Education

The OpenMed project will host its final conference on October 10, 2018 from 9.00 to 16.30 in Rome (Italy).

Scope

The conference represents the final event of the OpenMed project and gather all the partner institutions participating in the project, and the members of the UNIMED SubNetwork in eLearning and Open Education.

The rationale for initiating OpenMed is that in the South-Mediterranean countries the demand for Higher Education (HE) often exceeds capacity in the existing HE systems, and therefore the use and integration of Open Educational Resources (OER) and Open Educational Practices (OEP) are possible ways to expand access to learning opportunities, thus promoting equity, inclusion and democratisation of higher education. Widening participation to Higher Education by means of OER adoption is indeed a strategic priority for the higher education sector in general and for the OER movement.

Over the last 3 years, OpenMed has contributed greatly to having open education placed on the educational agenda in the region, by working with partner institutions and the open education movement worldwide. OpenMed has reviewed Open Education initiatives globally and in the region, addressed policy development through national dialogues, provided training for educators, produced an open course on open education fundamentals and approaches, equipped innovation centers for open education, and developed institutional action plans and recommendations for higher education leaders and policy makers in the region.

Beyond a discussion of the project results, the conference will encourage collaborations among project partners and stakeholders working on Open Education in higher education, and discuss visions on the future of Open Higher Education in the Mediterranean.