The organisers of ePIC 2022 are inviting researchers, practitioners and members of civil society to submit abstracts of contributions to the 20th International Interdisciplinary Conference on Open Education and Recognition practices and technologies that will take place October 19-21 at the University of Lille (France).

Contributions can include research papers, case studies, work in progress, position papers, workshops, presentations and posters. The selection of the presentations is solely based on the submission of abstracts, the final version of the contribution being submitted after the conference.

Calendar

• • May 23 – opening of the submission and review process:  authors are notified within two weeks after the submission of an abstract of their contribution
  • September 10 – Deadline for the registration of the presenters
  • October 19-21 – Conference
  • December 10 – Deadline for the submission of final papers for the proceedings
  • January 2023 — publication of the conference proceedings.

Theme of the 2022 conference

One objective of the 2022 conference is to explore the relationship between recognition and empowerment, a question emerging from the practice of Open Badges: how to recognise (claim, accept or endorse a recognition) in a way that is conducive to empowerment? Under which conditions? Conversely, how to avoid the risks of false recognition or stigmatisation.

Open Badges have profoundly transformed the recognition landscape: diplomas are no longer the compulsory step to making one’s learning visible. With Open Badges, all learning, whether formal, non-formal or informal, can be made equally visible. And when Open Badges make learning visible, they simultaneously make the recognition of that learning visible. Beyond making learning visible, Open Badges have the power to make all recognition visible, thus establishing a continuum between formal, non-formal and informal recognition.

More than mere “alternative credentials,” Open Badges are a means to open recognition, an idea coined in the Bologna Open Recognition Declaration published in 2016: at a time where everything was supposed to be “open” (open source, open educational resources, open data, open government, etc.) there was one word, “recognition”,  that nobody thought worth associating with “open”. Everything could be “open”, including “open bars” but not recognition.

Extending the understanding of the value of Open Badges from making learning visible to making recognition visible, understanding the role Open Badges in opening recognition, calls for an expansion of the exploration of Open Badges beyond the field of education: the contribution of sociology, philosophy, psychology and other disciplines is required to fully explore the potential (and risks!) of a technology and the practices it enables, in particular exploring how far we have moved from recognition of learning to recognition as empowerment.

Conference tracks

• Pedagogical practices – open education, alternative practices, ungrading, key and 21st century skills, recognising informal and experiential learning, peer and community learning, …; 
• Entrepreneurship and employment – fostering entrepreneurship, open hiring, endorsement and reputation, mobility, …; 
• Citizenship – civic and humanitarian commitments, recognising the talents of refugees and migrants, …;
• Policies – credit transfer, qualifications frameworks,…; 
• Social inclusion – learning regions and cities, tackling early school leaving, youth at risk, unemployment, disability, …; 
• Technologies – Open Badges, ePortfolios, assessment tools, social platforms, verifiable claims, blockchains, NFTs…

Suggested themes of exploration

• The contributions can cover, but are not limited to, the following themes:
• Why did it take so long to associate “open” to “recognition”? What are the ways and conditions to “open recognition”?
• The different forms of recognition and how they contribute, or not, to empowering individuals and communities
• The position of recognition in relation to competences (contextual mobilisation of knowledge, skills, attitudes and values):
  • External: competences can be recognised, but recognition is not a competence that every individual should develop and be recognised for.
  • Specific: recognition is one competence (or soft skill) along others like “working with others”.
  • Underpinning: recognition is underpinning all competences; without the ability to recognise no competence would exist.
• The position of recognition in relation to time. Recognition taking place:
  • Ante-post e.g. when meeting someone
  • Ex-post e.g. after learning (you learn and at the end you get recognition for it)
  • Throughout, it’s part of the process
• Unconditional vs conditional recognition. When recognition is / should be:
  • Unconditional
  • Conditional
• The relationship between learning and recognition:
  • Recognition of learning
  • Recognition for learning
  • Recognition as learning
• Recognition beyond learning: people, practices, values, projects, etc. x
• The relationship between open learning (or open education) and open recognition
  • Open Education without Open Recognition?
  • Open Recognition without Open Education?  
• The “yellow vests” : the role of artefacts in recognition processes
• Power relationship in a recognition ecosystem
• Do we need standards to recognise?
• Does recognition require “quality assurance”?
• The dialogic relationship between individual and collective recognition

How to submit a contribution?

The submission of a contribution is organised in two phases:

1. Before the conference: Submission of an abstract that will be used to select the contributions for presentation during the conference
2. After the conference: Submission of final papers, notes from workshops, round tables etc.

The selection of the presentations is based on the review of the submission of a structured long abstract (between 500 to 700 words) that will be published with the programme of the conference. All abstracts are reviewed to assess the quality and interest of a presentation. 

The submission of a contribution starts with the creation of an account required to submit the abstract used to select the presentations. When accepted, authors are invited to register with their co-presenter(s).​

1. 1. Create an account on ePIC’s conference management system:
      • https://www.conftool.org/epic2022
   2. Submit an abstract
      • https://www.conftool.org/epic2022/index.php?page=submissions
   3. Register as a participant

• • • https://www.conftool.org/epic2022/index.php?page=participate

Conference proceedings: the review of the final version of the submissions that will be included in the conference proceedings is done after the conference. This gives the opportunity to review the short or long papers, to collate the outcomes of workshops, round tables and other events taking place during the conference.