About the conference

OER im Blick 2026 will take place on April 28 and 29, 2026, in Cologne under the motto “Wel­come to the Jun­gle.” The annual sta­tus con­fer­ence accom­pa­nies the imple­men­ta­tion of the national OER strat­egy and brings together pro­gram par­tic­i­pants, experts, teach­ers, and inter­ested par­ties to exchange ideas, net­work, and fur­ther develop open edu­ca­tional mate­ri­als and prac­tices.

In the inspir­ing atmos­phere of smartvil­lage Cologne, the con­fer­ence invites par­tic­i­pants to explore the mul­ti­fac­eted OER ecosys­tem together, share expe­ri­ences, and dis­cover new avenues for coop­er­a­tion and inno­va­tion.

Posts by twillo

Lessons learned

Work­shop

In our slot “Lessons learned,” we are orga­niz­ing an inter­ac­tive ses­sion for stake­hold­ers from acad­e­mia, edu­ca­tional prac­tice, edu­ca­tional admin­is­tra­tion, and civil soci­ety. The aim is to stim­u­late an open exchange on cur­rent issues fac­ing the OER community—beyond mere suc­cess sto­ries.

The focus is explic­itly on lessons learned: failed projects, struc­tural hur­dles, recur­ring pain points, and unin­tended side effects. Top­ics of dis­cus­sion include chal­lenges in the sus­tain­able imple­men­ta­tion of OER in insti­tu­tional con­texts, ques­tions about incen­tive and recog­ni­tion sys­tems, qual­ity assur­ance, diver­sity and inclu­sion, as well as legal and tech­ni­cal aspects such as reusabil­ity and inter­op­er­abil­ity. Against the back­drop of tech­no­log­i­cal developments—such as AI-sup­ported teach­ing and learn­ing settings—we also reflect on how ideas of open­ness are chang­ing and what new uncer­tain­ties, but also what new oppor­tu­ni­ties for design, are emerg­ing.

Sov­er­eign, open, capa­ble of action? OER as an instru­ment of dig­i­tal sov­er­eignty

Meet-Up

At the meet-up, we will dis­cuss how OER can con­tribute to dig­i­tal sov­er­eignty in higher edu­ca­tion. Between plat­forms, insti­tu­tional respon­si­bil­i­ties, legal frame­works, and tech­ni­cal infra­struc­tures, the ques­tion arises as to where uni­ver­si­ties actu­ally have the capac­ity to act—and where struc­tural depen­den­cies exist.

After a brief intro­duc­tion that places OER in the con­text of open sci­ence and dig­i­tal edu­ca­tion pol­icy, we invite you to join us for an open dis­cus­sion: What con­di­tions must be in place for OER to strengthen dig­i­tal sov­er­eignty? Where are the break­ing points, and where is there poten­tial for coop­er­a­tion? The aim is to iden­tify con­crete start­ing points for sov­er­eign, open uni­ver­sity prac­tice.

Get­ting started together: OER sprints as a col­lab­o­ra­tive work­ing for­mat

Meet-Up

How can open, ready-to-use edu­ca­tional mate­ri­als be cre­ated col­lab­o­ra­tively within a clearly defined time frame? OER sprints offer a struc­tured for­mat for this: teach­ers work together to develop a spe­cific OER—from the ini­tial idea to the openly licensed result. The aim is to pool exper­tise, reduce effort, and cre­ate adapt­able, reusable mate­ri­als.

Fol­low­ing ini­tial dis­cus­sions at OER­camp 2025, twillo and ORCA.nrw are work­ing on a con­crete con­cept. At the meet-up, we will present the cur­rent sta­tus and dis­cuss the con­di­tions OER sprints need to be prac­ti­cal and attrac­tive.