Bologna Open Recognition Declaration (bord)

"Open access to knowledge and education is widely recognised as an irreplaceable factor for social and human growth and an indispensable component to consolidate and enrich citizenship, capable of giving citizens the necessary competencies to face the challenges of the new millennium, together with an awareness of shared values and of belonging to diverse social and cultural spaces. The importance of education and educational cooperation in the development and strengthening of stable, inclusive, peaceful and democratic societies is universally acknowledged as paramount. We now need to add open recognition to this list....This can be supported by encouraging the adoption of more open currencies to capture and share learning achievements whether in formal, informal or nonformal settings....Our consortium is coordinating its actions to reach the following objectives in the short term, which we consider to be of primary relevance in order to establish an Open Architecture for the Recognition of Learning Achievements: [1] Open recognition for all: First, we encourage everyone—learners, educators, citizens and organisations—to actively participate in and take ownership of the emerging open recognition movement. Participating includes: taking personal responsibility in one’s own learning and in the recognition of others’ achievements, contributing to the design, implementation and/or exploitation of local and/or global systems of recognition. [2] Open recognition technologies and infrastructure: Second, we call on the community of learning practitioners and technology developers to establish a trustworthy system of human and machine verifiable learning credentials and to adopt open standards facilitating the comparability and transferability of learning credentials. [3] Open recognition policies: Third, we call on governments, public authorities and educational stakeholders to implement inclusive policies facilitating and encouraging the recognition of learning achievements whether in formal, non-formal and informal settings, with bridges between all three. Those policies should ensure the existence of multiple developmental pathways, increased flexibility and accessibility and the inclusion of socially excluded and disenfranchised groups...."