Defining and Developing ‘Enabling’ Open Education Policies in Higher Education

Open education (OE) aims at increasing educational access, effectiveness and equity. The 2019 UNESCO Open Educational Resources (OER) Recommendation calls on governments and educational institutions to create enabling policies. Such policies should aim to foster open educational practices in a wide sense, including creation and use of OER. Key elements of OE policies are identified: capacity building; learning accreditation/credit transfer; access and inclusivity; diverse access to knowledge; platform governance; and fostering a culture of openness. OE policies, whether standalone or incorporated into a wider openness policy, should be designed to cohere with other policies addressing open content and practices. This brief seeks to promote the involvement of a wide range of stakeholders in institutional policymaking process via a co-creation approach. Co-creation of policy enables stakeholders’ voices to be heard, supports shared understanding and ownership of policy goals, while also ensuring policy is relevant and fit for local purposes, contexts and communities.