The Open Educational Resources “worksite”

In the current context of the climate crisis, the need to spread broad and accessible environmental awareness is increasingly urgent. Environmental information is often the preserve of experts and formal education sectors, making it difficult for many people to approach these issues directly. In response to this challenge, the Third Climate Places project aims to develop European Open Educational Resources (OERs): common, open and participatory educational materials that focus on community experience and collective climate action. Let’s take a look at what it means in practice to create these resources and how they can revolutionise the approach to ecological education in our daily places of encounter and exchange.

What are Open Educational Resources?

Open Educational Resources (OERs), from the English Open Educational, are digital educational materials made available under licences that allow their reuse, modification and distribution. These resources include a wide range of materials, such as textbooks, instructional videos, lesson modules, complete courses, educational software and interactive platforms. 

The concept of OERs emerged in the early 2000s, with the aim of making education more accessible and collaborative globally. UNESCO has played a key role in promoting OERs, adopting the ‘Recommendation on Open Educational Resources’ in 2019, which encourages member states to develop policies to support the use and sharing of resources The European Commission has emphasised the importance of REAs in the strategic framework for European cooperation in education and training, recognising their role in improving access to education and fostering pedagogical innovation. This includes the European School Education Platform, which complemented the services previously offered by eTwinning and School Education Gateway. This platform serves as a meeting point for school staff, the research community and policy makers, offering news, interviews, publications, practice examples, courses and partnership opportunities for Erasmus+ projects.

How we understand OERs in the Climatecommons.eu community

Through the Climate Third Places project, the ClimateCommons.eu community of practice is experimenting with new models of Open Educational Resources that address the topic of ecological education in an innovative way. 

We understand OERs not only as educational materials, but also as collective spaces for learning and sharing experiences where knowledge, values and skills can be freely exchanged and co-created by the community itself. They are alternatives to traditional educational systems and do not belong to a single institution, but to the community that lives and nurtures them, offering an open space where each individual can contribute and feel part of a movement of cultural and environmental transformation.

The idea of OERs in a context such as Third Places (libraries, parks, markets or other public spaces) broadens the scope of ecological education by bringing it into informal spaces and inviting all people to be part of it. The commons can become powerful tools of non-formal and interactive education, capable of raising awareness of climate and environmental issues among a wide and diverse audience and offering concrete tools to encourage collective action and lasting change.

Ecological Education: What do we mean?

The concept of ecological education is based on the idea that education should play an active role in building a critical awareness of the interactions between human beings and the environment. The main objective is to develop a critical awareness of the processes linking society and the environment, enabling an understanding of the impact of human actions and encouraging responsible and sustainable behaviour. 

Ecological education encourages a systemic and interconnected view, emphasising the importance of values such as environmental and climate justice, social equity and sustainability. This form of education invites us to see ourselves as an integral part of natural ecosystems, adopting an ecosystemic view. In this context, Edward O. Wilson’s concept of biophilia proves fundamental: according to Wilson, human beings have an innate affinity with the natural world, an instinctive desire to connect with life and life processes. Ecological education can awaken this deep connection, teaching us to understand and appreciate the value of biodiversity and natural systems. Biophilia thus becomes a guiding value to nurture a deep-rooted and transformative ecological awareness and to stimulate conscious and active participation in one’s own communities.

In order to make ecological education accessible outside the classroom and academic environments, it is necessary to create meaningful and practical experiences that are understandable and relevant to a wide and diverse audience. In third places, this education can directly reach people in their everyday lives, offering information and tools for action that resonate with their local interests and needs.

Creating OERs with Appreciative Design

An innovative approach to building Open Educational Resources is Appreciative Design, a tool that allows these educational tools to be built in an effective and lasting way, starting from the positive resources and intrinsic motivations of local communities. This methodology, which combines Design Thinking with Appreciative Inquiry, does not merely identify problems to be solved, but focuses on enhancing the resources already present and the collective potential. Appreciative Design thus offers an approach centred on empathy and community participation, which is fundamental to co-creating educational experiences that are meaningful for people and that respond to their real needs in an empathetic and collaborative manner.

In the Climate Third Places project, the Appreciative Design approach is translated into educational activities designed to adapt to the specific needs and aspirations of each community. The first phase of the process, that of empathy, involves the people who attend the Third Place in defining what resources and interests can be harnessed and put at the service of ecological education. In doing so, educational resources become ‘tailor-made’ spaces in which the community recognises itself and which it considers its own. Moreover, through this lens, these resources are transformed into practical and participatory experiences that stimulate collective climate action.

An example of this process can be a recycling workshop in a city park, where shared knowledge is built and concrete solutions to reduce waste are practised. By involving people of all ages and skills, these experiences allow the community to feel an active part of sustainable change and build a greener future together.

The aim with Appreciative Design is therefore to develop educational tools that are:

• Sustainable, as they build on existing resources and deep-rooted motivations.
• Accessible, thanks to a design that takes into account different needs and local realities.
• Participatory, as they are co-created together with the community, which becomes an active and responsible part of their management and growth.

OER and the Educating Community

Free educational resources in third places strengthen the widespread educational community, an educational network that develops through relationships, practices and shared values between people. This community is not hierarchical, but horizontal and participatory, in which each individual can contribute to environmental awareness. A widespread educational community is a fundamental resource for ecological transformation, as it actively involves all members of society in a continuous process of learning and empowerment. Free educational tools, by integrating everyday life experiences with ecological content, facilitate this process, making each Third Place an opportunity for growth and collective action.

OERs in Third Places represent a new frontier for ecological education and climate change awareness-raising on a European scale. Supported by innovative approaches such as Appreciative Design, these spaces become engines of change and cohesion, where people can learn, discuss and act for the climate in a concrete and inclusive way. At a time when everyone’s involvement is crucial in tackling the climate crisis, European OERs emerge as models of participatory and widespread education, capable of integrating ecological thinking into everyone’s everyday life.

Discover the Open Educational Resource we have developed, the guide ‘Appreciative Design for Climate Activism in Third Places’, available here.