Launch of Badge Europe!

London, Saturday 25 October 2014 saw the launch of Badge Europe! (acronym BEU!, pronounced “Be You”) an initiative aiming at creating the conditions for:

  • Providing systematic access to the recognition of all learning, whether non-formal, informal or formal;
  • Increasing the transparency, trustworthiness and quality of the recognition of learning achievements;
  • Empowering individuals for more balanced relationships with institutions and authorities;
  • Creating new opportunities for employment, social inclusion and learning  for all.

More and more European countries are emphasising the importance of making visible and valuing the learning that takes place outside formal education and training institutions. Yet, despite a number of initiatives and recommendations on the recognition of informal learning (c.f. European guidelines for validating non‑formal and informal learning, CEDEFOP) there is still a wide gap between the recognition of formal and informal or non-formal learning. Access to the recognition of informal learning is patchy and the outcome of  the recognition process is too often treated with suspicion.

Moreover, at the European level there is a fragmentation between the different Europass documents:

  • Curriculum Vitae: 
  • European Skills Passport
  • Language Passport
  • Europass Mobility
  • Diploma Supplement
  • Certificate Supplement

Each document has its own idiosyncrasies. They can be incompatible with other documents recommended by the European Council (e.g. the Language Passport with the European Language Portfolio) or somewhat overlap (e.g. the Curriculum Vitae, European Skills Passport and Europass Mobility) or sometimes not make sense (why two different supplements, eg. one for further education and VET (Certificate) one for higher education (Diploma)?

We hope that Open Badges will be able to unify those different documents, and especially, add a level of 'trust' that is currently missing.

Expected Outcomes

To address those issues, BEU! will work towards the promotion of Open Badges as Open Credentials and of the Open Badges Infrastructure (OBI) as a trust infrastructure. Key actors from the world of education, work and policy will be invited to join the BEU! Steering Committee to lead the actions planed over 2014-2017:

  • Creation of an Open Badges European professional network
  • Open Badge initiatives to support learning regions and cities
  • Integration of Open Badges at policy level, in particular with the Europass initiative

BEU! is funded with support from the Erasmus + programme of the European Commission.

Project Partners

  • Beuth-Hochschule fuer Technik Berlin (Germany) Coordinator
  • Cambridge Professional Development (UK)
  • ADPIOS (France)
  • EDEN (UK/Europe)
  • Discendum Oy (Finland)
  • Dienst Uitvoering Onderwijs (The Netherlands)
  • Radom Institute (Poland)
  • Digitalme (UK)
  • ARTES (Italy)
  • SUPSIRe (Switzerland)

 

For more information and contact: http://www.openbadges.eu/