The Badge Europe! initiative (acronym BEU!, pronounced “Be You”) reaches out to learners, citizens, educators, employers, public authorities and policy makers with the overall aim to create the conditions for:

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

Context

More European countries are emphasising the importance of making visible and valuing 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 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 recognition process is  too often treated with suspicion.

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 of the world of education, work and policy will be invited to join the BEU! Steering Committee to lead the actions plans over 2014-2017:

• Creation of an Open Badges European professional network
• Open Badges MOOC (Massive Open Online Course)
• Open Badges initiatives to support learning regions and cities
• Open Badges infrastructre
• Integration of Open Badges at policy level, in particular with the Europass initiative

NB: BEU! was funded with support from the Eramus + programme of the European Commission.

About Open Badges

Open Badges are portable and verifiable digital records, allowing learners to showcase work, document skill sets and competencies, and create a robust portrait of their abilities wherever they were acquired: whether in school, in the community, on the job or online.

The Open Badges initiative was launched in September 2011 by the Mozilla Foundation, to provide a response to the needs for the recognition informal of learning. Millions of badges have already been delivered and the initiative has received the support from leading organisations in the field of education, business, policy and citizenship.

Contact: Serge Ravet: +33 6 0768 6727 –