Brussels, June 2010: This year’s EFQUEL
Innovation Forum, the fourth in the highly successful series of
European gatherings, will take place in Lisbon, Portugal in
collaboration with the Catholic University of Portugal and the National
Institute for Public Administration Portugal. From September 8-10, 2010,
in the Palace of the former Marquises of Pombal, in Oeiras, Lisbon, and
surrounded by beautiful gardens, the annual assembly of eLearning and
education professionals will debate how opening education can contribute
to social inclusion agendas and promote economic wellfare through
better equipping citizens with necessary skills.

The EFQUEL Innovation Forum is a great opportunity for action oriented
participation, sharing ideas, building and enlarging networks and
exchanging visions. The atmosphere is open and dialogue-oriented.
Participants who are registering before the 30th of June 2010 are
profiting from a reduced Early
Bird Fee.

Open educational resources (OER) are high on the agenda of social and inclusion policies and supported by many
stakeholders of the educational sphere. User Generated Content is more
relevant than ever, and co- and peer-production increasingly at the
heart of content development. At the same time assessment and quality
assurance processes are put to test because long introduced expert and
teacher led approaches of assessing quality seem to loose effect in view
of user created content and free available resources. Opening education
promotes social inclusion agendas and supports economic programs by
raising participation and supporting the development of new skills. It
leads away from traditional business models and frees energy for
innovation.
During the EFQUEL forum the delegates will produce recommendations in interactive workshop discussions on the following
topics:

• Open Educational Practices
• User Generated Content
• Self-Evaluation and Learning Organization
• Equal access to Higher Education
• Research in E-Learning
Four ambassador teams will challenge the participants to relate their debates to the four important
topics around inclusion innovation and excellence: a) Enabling
Participation, b) Improving Employability, c) Strengthening
Intercultural Dialogue & understanding and d) Developing Skills to
shape the future. Delegates are encouraged to present their own projects
and initiatives in this field in form of a short case, a poster or in
interactive discussions.

Each workshop will follow the same rhythm in order to weave the topics together by following the central
question: “How can we reach social inclusion, innovation and
excellence?” During the second day, this question will be discussed in
newly assembled groups and finally reflected in a roundtable discussion,
representing the policy, academia and corporate sector. EFQUEL will
take the important recommendations from delegates further into shaping
its work agenda to contribute to a Europe of inclusion, innovation and
excellence through education.