Launch of the UNESCO Network on Open Education: A milestone for social justice in academia

The UNESCO University Twinning and Networking Programme (UniTWIN) network on Open Education (UNOE) was recently launched online, marking a significant step towards advancing open education and social justice globally. This initiative, hosted by Nantes University, brings together 16 partners from various countries and institutions, including the University of Cape Town (UCT), represented by Associate Professor Glenda Cox, the UCT UNESCO Chair in Open Education and Social Justice.

Associate Professor Cox’s work in the Centre for Higher Education Development (CHED) at the Centre for Innovation in Learning and Teaching (CILT) focuses on open education with an emphasis on co-constructing, co-designing, and co-creating openly available teaching and learning resources that recognise and represent diverse voices.

In her launch presentation, Cox emphasised the network’s commitment to enabling transformative justice through open education: “Our challenge in the next four years is to build evidence for the ability of open education to enable transformative justice. This network can foster research partnerships between the Global North and Global South, contributing to new ways of looking at higher education.” She highlighted the potential of artificial intelligence (AI) as a transformative innovation, suggesting that if it is guided by open principles, AI could sustain and promote social justice.

Highlights of the launch

The launch featured a series of insightful presentations and discussions, starting with a welcome address by Carine Bernault, the president of Nantes University. Sobhi Tawil, from UNESCO’s Future of Learning and Innovation sector, provided an overview of the UniTWIN networks, which include over 1 000 chairs, 45 networks, 5 000 partner institutions, and 10 000 researchers worldwide. Tawil underscored the networks’ role in pooling ideas, strengthening and diversifying knowledge sharing, and linking academia to community and society.

Jaco Du Toit, from UNESCO’s communication and information sector, emphasised the importance of “open solutions” encompassing all aspects of open access, open source, open science, and open education. He articulated the critical role UNOE can play in ensuring education for all.

Keynote and panel discussion

The keynote address was delivered by François Taddei, the president of the Learning Planet Institute and holder of the UNESCO Chair in the Science of Learning. Taddei’s presentation, titled “We Need to Reimagine Universities for a Sustainable Future: Let’s Promote Open Education and Collective Responsibility”, advocated for rethinking the role of universities to serve the commons and prioritise student engagement, proposing four approaches to relationships with students: ignoring, pretending to listen, engaging in dialogue, and reinventing their roles.

The launch event included a panel discussion moderated by Colin de la Higuera, UNESCO Chair in Open Educational Resources and Artificial Intelligence at Nantes University, exploring the four pillars of community-building, research, education, and software that the UNOE network is structured around. Cox will lead the research pillar.

Looking ahead

The launch of the UNOE signifies a collaborative effort to enhance open education and social justice globally. “The network is poised to make significant strides in creating inclusive and equitable educational environments and promises to build robust research partnerships and develop innovative approaches to higher education that prioritise social justice and the common good,” Cox noted.