The Initiative for Establishment of Belt and Road International Community for Open Educational Resource
The Belt and Road (B&R) International Community for Open Educational Resources (OER) is established in support of the OER movement and China’s “B&R Initiative”.
OER is becoming a widespread movement, supported and adopted by institutions, organizations, and governments. Paris Declaration 2012 and Incheon Declaration 2015 called upon realizing the potential of OER as a means of meeting the objectives of “2030 Agenda”, Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 4 – ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all.
Around the same time, China has proposed the “B&R Initiative” which follows the historical symbol of the Silk Road Economic Belt and the 21st century Maritime Silk Road, aiming at establishing economic, political, and cultural partnerships with the countries along the Belt and Road. In response to the B&R Initiative, the Ministry of Education initiated the “Proposed Actions on Jointly Building the Education of the Belt and Road” in 2016. This proposal highlights the importance of advancing educational collaborations among the Belt and Road countries, to strengthen cultural exchanges and facilitate capacity building.
Smart Learning Institute of Beijing Normal University has taken together the significance of OER and China’s B&R Initiative, using this opportunity to establish the B&R OER Community, with the aspirations of achieving quality education for all through knowledge sharing, combining expertise, and collaboration of its members.
Smart Learning Institute of Beijing Normal University has taken together the significance of OER and China’s B&R Initiative, using this opportunity to establish the B&R OER Community, with the aspirations of achieving quality education for all through knowledge sharing, combining expertise, and collaboration of its members.
The mission of the B&R OER Community is to leverage resources, knowledge, and expertise to catalyze quality education for all using OER, through joining forces of its members in Belt and Road countries. The Community aims to serve as a key enabler for meeting global educational challenges and generating long lasting impact to contribute to a sustainable future. The Community emphasises collaboration to extend outreach capacity, and to strengthen visibility and impact of its action on education in Belt and Road countries.
The B&R OER Community aims to:
1) Develop a policy framework for OER development in Belt and Road countries;
2) Establish OER guidelines for developing and using OER in schools and educational institutions;
3) Establish an OER platform for sharing knowledge and high quality resources (i.e., Virtual Reality, STEAM Education, and Maker Education);
4) Support the development and adaptation of OER in various languages and cultural contexts;
5) Organize annual OER workshops and conferences;
6) Conduct research and release publications associated with OER;
7) Establish OER Research Centres in member countries, to further strengthen OER impact on education in Belt and Road countries;
8) Invite partners, covering majority of the Belt and Road countries at the end of 2020.
1) Develop a policy framework for OER development in Belt and Road countries;
2) Establish OER guidelines for developing and using OER in schools and educational institutions;
3) Establish an OER platform for sharing knowledge and high quality resources (i.e., Virtual Reality, STEAM Education, and Maker Education);
4) Support the development and adaptation of OER in various languages and cultural contexts;
5) Organize annual OER workshops and conferences;
6) Conduct research and release publications associated with OER;
7) Establish OER Research Centres in member countries, to further strengthen OER impact on education in Belt and Road countries;
8) Invite partners, covering majority of the Belt and Road countries at the end of 2020.
Since the B&R OER Community was established in March, 2016, we have successfully invited partners from 31 countries to become members of the Community.
Call for Partners
We are seeking for partners to join the Belt and Road International Community for Open Educational Resources. Higher education institutions, scientific research institutions, enterprises, publishing companies and organizations who have strong mission alignment with the Community, we are eager to hear from you.
1. We take pride in sharing network and knowledge, and providing access to quality OER of diverse languages to support the Community’s OER advocacy.
2. We can leverage resources, expertise and competencies to promote the Community’s ideals and values, and to achieve common development goals.
3. We combine expertise for OER delivery through collaboration and organization of activities at regional, national, and global level.
