Open Principles in Education – Bridging Bridges, Empowering communities – presented by Suchith Anand, University of Nottingham.

This presentation shared experiences from “Geo for All” initiative on the importance of having open principles in education for empowering communities worldwide . Central to “Geo for All” mission is the belief that knowledge is a public good and Open Principles in Education will provide great opportunities for everyone. Though the members of our community hail from many different backgrounds, we all seek to eliminate the digital divide and empower all as full citizens and contribute to building up Open Knowledge for the benefit of the whole society . By combining the potential of free and open  software, open data, open standards, open access to research publications, open education resources in Geospatial education and research will enable the creation of sustainable innovation ecosystem . This is key for widening  education opportunities, accelerating new discoveries and helping solving global cross disciplinary societal challenges from Climate change mitigation to sustainable cities. Service for the benefit and betterment of humanity is a key fundamental principle of “Geo for All” and we want to contribute and focus our efforts for the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. We aim to create openness in Geo Education for developing creative and open minds in students which is critical for building open innovation and contributes to building up Open Knowledge for the benefit of the whole society and for our future generations. The bigger aim is to advance STEM education across the world and bring together schools, teachers and students across the world in joint projects and help building international understanding and global peace. More details at  http://www.geoforall.org/