Introduction
Nearly a quarter of a century has passed since the much-anticipated arrival of the 21st century, a moment marked by excitement and promise. Since then, concepts such as innovation, challenge, transformation, and change have not ceased to resonate. In this fast-paced and increasingly complex digital era, phenomena emerge and evolve so rapidly that thoughtful reflection often feels outpaced. Information, driven by technological evolution, has reshaped everyday life, transforming everything into immediacy. In this landscape, the open sharing of knowledge, through science and education, stands out as a vital force for democratizing access to information. Openness fosters spaces of dialogue and connection, encouraging more responsible, collective, and community-centered practices. This, in turn, supports the collaborative co-creation of a more inclusive and caring society, both in the present and for the future of education.
As we face the pressing challenge of shaping the education of tomorrow, there is a growing urgency to explore innovative pathways grounded in collective participation and designed for the benefit of all. In 2021, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO), through its International Commission, issued a global call to re-imagine the future of education, affirming it is a foundational element in shaping a common and shared destiny (UNESCO, 2021a). In line with this vision, in 2022, UNESCO convened a major conference entitled ‘Transforming Knowledge for a Just and Sustainable Future’ to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the UNITWIN/UNESCO Chairs Programme. In parallel, several declarations have emerged, reinforcing this commitment to transformative, inclusive education: the Recommendations on Open Educational Resources (OER) (UNESCO, 2019); the Recommendations for Open Science (UNESCO, 2021b); the Common Principles for Future Generations (UNESCO, 2023); the Roadmap for Generative Artificial Intelligence (GenAI) in Education and Research (UNESCO, 2024a); and, most recently, the Dubai Declaration on OER (UNESCO, 2024b). Together, these efforts underscore that building the future of education requires a collective transformative commitment to creating more equitable, resilient, and accessible learning opportunities for all.
From the frontlines of pedagogical innovation, we are invited to reflect: how can we forge a path where technological breakthroughs, particularly artificial intelligence (AI), not only align with our core values, but also actively serve as a catalyst for equity, inclusion, and transformation? The Dubai Declaration is a strategic call for action in five key areas (Figure 1). It urges the global community to mobilise around capacity-building, the development of normative frameworks that support both regulation and innovation, and the promotion of inclusion and equity. It emphasizes sustainability and encourages cross-border collaboration to share experiences, scale good practices, and foster a global culture of openness through education and science (UNESCO, 2024b). The Dubai Declaration challenges us to design frameworks where AI integration is governed by inherent equity, ensuring that access to knowledge is treated as a universal right, not a restricted privilege (Varoglu, 2025). This requires creating systems that, from their conception, are transparent, participatory, and adaptable to the diverse realities. At the heart of this vision is a refusal to remain passive in the face of rapid and disruptive technological advancement. Rather, it calls for harnessing AI’s transformative potential to not only democratise knowledge but to expand and amplify it, crossing boundaries and empowering a truly global community of learning.
Figure 1
Echoes and horizons from the Dubai Declaration on OER (UNESCO, 2024b).
In this quest for collective co-creation, this special collection of the Journal of Interactive Media in Education (JIME) calls upon the academic, scientific, and broader social community to reflect deeply on the challenges and opportunities emerging from the convergence of education and open science in digital environments. Our goal as editors is to foster a rich, multidisciplinary dialogue that examines how interactive media, AI, and open access digital infrastructures can meaningfully enhance teaching and learning processes both in higher education and lifelong learning. We invite you to join us in exploring new strategies to ensure quality, accessibility, and inclusiveness in the creation and reuse of OER, open education, and open science, as well as considering their influence in shaping more collaborative, globally connected learning communities.
This editorial is pleased to present a selection of twelve articles that engage with the UNESCO frameworks, expanding and enriching them with new perspectives, innovative methodologies, and compelling findings. Framed by the five key recommendation clusters of the Dubai Declaration – Capacity-Building, Policy, Ensuring inclusive and equitable access to quality OER, Sustainability Models for OER, and International Cooperation – this collection offers both practical insight and visionary approaches for the future. The authors articulate the contours of a new era in which AI can become a driver of open, dynamic, and inclusive knowledge ecosystems, progressively dissolving geographic, economic, and linguistic barriers.
Presentation of the Special Collection
This collection brings together valuable contributions that underwent rigorous peer review, with each submission evaluated by at least two peer reviewers. Following this process, twelve papers were accepted, representing 42 authors from eleven countries. The selected articles have been organized according to areas of practice and research aligned with the recommendations of the Dubai Declaration. Each section provides a brief overview of the contextual relevance of the theme, followed by descriptions of the articles that offer related insights, case studies, and research.
Capacity-Building
This section highlights efforts to strengthen the skills and knowledge necessary for the creation, use, and adaptation of OER. Developing competencies in educators, students, and institutional leaders is crucial to maximising the potential of open education, supporting all actors to actively participate in building more dynamic and resilient learning ecosystems. Here, our two articles explore pedagogical training and the acquisition of technical skills for the integration of emerging technologies and the improvement of human and institutional capacities.
Authored by Darlene González Miy (Mexico), the article ‘Active Learning, Mentoring and generative AI-Based OER: A Case Study in a Virtual Laboratory’, shows how structured mentoring and active learning strategies can catalyse the collaborative creation of generative AI-enhanced OER, specifically in the context of a virtual laboratory for social innovation. This offers a pathway for generative AI tools to support authentic tasks, illustrating the importance of training individuals in the use and development of these technologies to enrich open education and human resource management.
Authors Francisco Iniesto (Spain), Viviane Vladimirschi (Brazil), Carina Bossu (UK), Rob Farrow (UK) and Rebecca Pitt (UK) contribute the article ‘Empowering Equity Diversity and Inclusion: The Impact and Future of Open Education in Latin America’ and help us to understand the current state of equity, diversity and inclusion in Latin American open education, proposing how communities of practice can be strengthened to become more inclusive. Their findings highlight the need to increase collaboration with universities in the region, build skills in local experts, and organise training events, including content translation, which is fundamental for the growth and ownership of open education in the Latin American context.
Policy
This section examines the importance of establishing policy and legal frameworks that facilitate the creation, use and distribution of OER. Regulatory work is crucial to ensure the interoperability, quality and sustainability of open education initiatives, as well as to protect the rights of creators and users. The articles included here analyse existing policies and proposals for new regulations to drive the movement forward.
Markus Deimann (Germany) and Bence Lukács (Germany), with the article ‘From Niche to Regime: Rethinking Openness in the Age of Artificial Intelligence’ offer a critical assessment of how open education is evolving in the face of the growing presence of AI, using the framework of the Multilevel Perspective. They conceptualise openness as a contested ideal and draws parallels with the history of open education and science. The analysis reveals a disconnect between large-scale aspirations, specific innovations, and established education systems, supporting an argument for a sound theoretical and philosophical basis for openness in the age of AI.
With contributions from Javiera Atenas (UK), Fabio Nascimbeni (Italy), Leo Havemann (UK), the article ‘Open Educational Practices: promoting resilience, equity and innovation in higher education ecosystems’ emphasises the crucial role of Open Educational Practices (OEPs), which go beyond OER, in fostering equitable and resilient higher education systems, in line with the UN Digital Public Goods. Through an integrative review of international frameworks, the study analyses the conceptual evolution and practical implementation of OEPs, offering recommendations for open education governance policies to better reflect the complexity and transformative potential of these emerging practices.
Ensuring inclusive and equitable access to quality OER
The Dubai Declaration underlines the need to ensure that open education is accessible to all, removing geographical, economic, and technological barriers. This section includes three articles that focus on expanding the reach and availability of educational resources.
In the contribution of Miguel García-López (Mexico), José-Martín Molina-Espinosa (Mexico), and María-Soledad Ramírez-Montoya (Mexico/Spain), with the paper ‘Optimize to Open: An Exploratory-Experimental Approach to the Computational Optimization of Open Language Models for Educational Access’, they offer us an innovative study that investigates the feasibility and educational impact of optimising Open Language Models (OLLMs) for use in resource-constrained educational settings. Their findings, which include a significant reduction in response time and memory usage, as well as improved educational relevance and query performance, demonstrate how computational optimisation can facilitate more equitable and scalable access to open education globally, making OLLMs key tools for digital inclusion.
The contribution of Claudia Marina Vicario Solórzano (Mexico), Victor Joohvan Veraza Garcia (Mexico), Aquiles Raziel Rojas Martínez (Mexico), Emmanuel González Rogel (Mexico), Aquiles Raziel Rojas Martínez (Mexico) and Karla Josette Salas Montoya (Mexico), through the article ‘TOLUCATRAIN VR 1.0: Implementation and Evaluation of an Open Educational Resource for Railway Training’, presents the development and functional evaluation of TOLUCATRAIN VR 1.0, an immersive OER that uses virtual reality (VR) for railway technical training. The proposal seeks to democratise access to specialised knowledge in contexts with limited physical infrastructure. Results indicate high usability and a significant improvement in technical learning, highlighting how sovereign, contextualised OER can offer scalable alternatives to closed commercial models.
The contributions of Leonardo David Glasserman Morales (Mexico), Carolina Alcantar (Mexico), and Andres Chiappe Laverde (Colombia), with the article ‘Assessment of Open Educational Resources instruments: A Systematic review’ provide us with a systematic review of OER assessment instruments, a crucial task for research in the field. They observed an increase in the development of scales with strong psychometric properties to measure factors related to OER. The conclusion emphasizes the need for researchers to focus more on measuring OER, as valid and reliable scales are essential for producing higher-quality empirical research results and consequently improving the accessibility and effectiveness of these resources.
Sustainability Models for OER
Sustainability of OER and open education initiatives is a key challenge. This category addresses the search for and development of economic, institutional, and technological models that ensure the long-term viability of OER, including funding, maintenance and updating. The articles included here explore various strategies to ensure that the benefits of open education endure over time.
Authored by Davis Velarde-Camaqui (Peru), Iris Cristina Peláez-Sánchez (Mexico), Yéssica Betzabé Contreras Fuentes (Mexico), and Azeneth Patiño (Canada), the paper ‘Open Education in Latin America: A Regional Assessment of Open Educational Resources Initiatives’ offers a regional diagnosis of OER initiatives in Spanish-speaking Latin America, analysing their distribution, characteristics, and alignment with the Recommendation on OER (UNESCO, 2019). Although there is a strong emphasis on accessibility, especially in higher education, and a good alignment with the goal of inclusive access, the analysis reveals a lower representation in areas such as regional cooperation and the development of sustainable models. This underlines the need for a more holistic approach that fosters sustainable and collaborative OEP.
From the authorship of Inés Alvarez-Icaza (Mexico), Mireia Usart-Rodríguez (Spain), Patricia Torres-Sánchez (Mexico), and Benito Martínez-Briones (Mexico), comes ‘Co-Creation Strategies for Equitable Open Education: A Framework for Diversity and Inclusion’. The authors present the INSPIRA framework, a participatory model developed to guide co-creation strategies that promote inclusion and equity in open and digitally mediated educational environments. Based on the collective experience of educational communities, the study analyses 20 co-creation strategies and concludes that the INSPIRA framework can make a significant contribution to developing contextualised and relevant inclusion strategies.
International cooperation
Cooperation between countries, institutions and actors is essential to advance open education globally. This category highlights transnational collaborative efforts, knowledge sharing and networking that strengthen the open movement. Articles range from case studies of collaborative projects to analyses of policies that encourage networking between different educational contexts and illustrate the importance of collaboration across borders.
The contribution by Azeneth Patiño (Canada), Sandra Martínez-Pérez (Spain), María Soledad Ramírez-Montoya (Mexico/Spain) and Jhonatan Miranda (Mexico), in the article ‘AI-Driven Model for Fostering International Cooperation in Open Education: A Roadmap for Innovation and Equity’, addresses how AI can enhance international cooperation in open education in support with global equity agendas. Through a case study on the UNESCO/ICDE 2025 Residency, the article reveals how AI was used to facilitate interdisciplinary projects, collaboration and knowledge sharing. The authors propose a scalable roadmap for educators, policymakers and global networks to drive AI-enhanced and equitable cooperation in the field of open education.
The authors Augusto Cabrera-Duffaut (Ecuador), Ana María Pinto-Llorente (Spain) and Ana Iglesias-Rodríguez (Spain), provide the article ‘Open Education and Science in the Digital Age: Virtual Reality and Competency Development in Physiology Learning within Health Sciences’. Their quasi-experimental study evaluates the impact of VR as an OER in the teaching of physiology in Health Sciences. It demonstrates how VR not only improves academic performance and knowledge retention but also strengthens generic competencies crucial for professional performance.
Authored by Cristina Sofia Torres Castillo (Mexico), Rasikh Tariq (Mexico), Diana Hernández Montoya (Costa Rica), Antonio Martínez Arboleda (UK) and Ernesto Pacheco-Velazquez (Mexico), the article ‘Open Education in Latin America: A Regional Assessment of Open Educational Resources Initiatives’ provides a comprehensive overview of OER initiatives in Spanish-speaking Latin American countries, analysing their nature, educational level and alignment with UNESCO guidelines. Although there is an emphasis on accessibility (especially in higher education) opportunities for improvement are identified in areas such as regional cooperation and the development of sustainable models. This diagnosis provides vital guidance for future international collaborations and strategies which promote stronger and more equitable open practices in the region.
Conclusions and new avenues to contribute to the Echoes and Horizons of the Dubai Declaration
The articles gathered in this collection illustrate how the principles of the Dubai Declaration can be realized and reimagined through diverse, innovative, and context-sensitive research. By addressing capacity-building, policy, equitable access, sustainability, and international cooperation, these contributions respond to global calls for OER and open education while highlighting the field’s dynamic evolution in the digital age. The studies demonstrate that empowering educators and learners, refining policy frameworks, and leveraging emerging technologies such as AI and VR are essential for fostering inclusive and resilient educational ecosystems. They also highlight the importance of robust assessment tools, sustainable models, and collaborative networks to ensure that open education continues to thrive and adapt to new challenges.
The ongoing evolution of open education and open science demands critical engagement with emerging technologies and the ethical challenges of representation, access, and transparency. The findings and methodologies presented here can be used to open new directions for research and practice, inviting the global community to deepen its engagement with the Dubai Declaration’s vision. Future efforts should prioritize learning using holistic and participatory approaches, and promote the ethical and sustainable integration of technology into the educational processes. This can strengthen international partnerships to address persistent gaps in access and sustainability. By embracing these directions, stakeholders can contribute to a more equitable, innovative, and enduring education landscape, one that truly echoes and expands the horizons set forth in the Dubai Declaration on OER.
The authors and researchers featured in this special issue lead by example, encouraging peers to explore, experiment, and share data and insights to foster critical, inclusive approaches to knowledge in response to today’s most pressing challenges. Their work affirms the global community’s right to be heard and empowered in shaping education as a fundamental human right. These contributions exemplify a broader, transdisciplinary movement rooted in openness and collaboration. By co-creating knowledge that addresses both local needs and global challenges, they help support open education that remains resilient, relevant, and responsive. Continued commitment from the scholarly community is essential to building an educational future that truly supports learners of all ages.
We are deeply grateful to the authors whose contributions make up this special issue. Their work exemplifies the best of what open scholarship can offer: a commitment to equity, a respect for diversity, and a vision for systems that serve learners everywhere. Through insightful analyses, bold ideas, and grounded case studies, they push the boundaries of what is possible and remind us that needed transformations are already underway.
As we look toward the future of open education and open science, this collection affirms that lasting transformation is rooted in collective effort, shared values, and global solidarity. The Dubai Declaration calls on us to act with intention, courage, and collaboration. The research presented here shows that when local voices shape global agendas and when openness is grounded in care, co-creation, and justice, we move closer to an educational future that is truly inclusive and sustainable. Let us continue to build on this momentum, weaving together policy, practice, and innovation to realize a world where access to knowledge is both open and empowering for all.
Competing Interests
The authors declare no competing financial or personal interests related to this submission. As Guest Editors of this Special Collection for JIME, we acknowledge our editorial role with the journal as a non-financial competing interest.