On June 13 a group of Polish non-governmental organizations, researchers and librarians working in the field of open education met in order to discuss on recommendations for better public policies for open education. The aim of the meeting was also to network with people and institutions who are interested in developing open education in Poland.

The framework of our discussion was based on three areas:

  • formal education (primary and secondary schools),
  • academic education (including research and Open Access)
  • non-formal education entities that can complement school education, create materials for use in schools, run parallel educational activities, trainings for teachers, management staff, etc.

An important part of our discussion was an analysis of how the Cape Town Declaration +10 years model, which defines new directions for Open Education policies, fits in the Polish context. We’ve focused on the reality of academic digital repositories, using the example of MOST Knowledge  repository of Gdańsk University of Technology). We also discussed the involvement of university libraries in promoting openness among students, research associates and lecturers.

It was also an opportunity for us to exchange opinions and insights about the Polish national open textbooks platform “E-podręczniki” and about online casinos pl. One of the most important conclusions of this discussion was that open educational resources cannot be limited only to digital resources.

This meeting was the first step in developing recommendations in the areas selected by us. Centrum Cyfrowe in cooperation of The Faculty of Pedagogy of the University of Gdańsk is planning now subsequent stages of work.