Help Us Build a School of Open

The School of Open is a collaboration between Creative Commons and P2PU (Peer 2 Peer University). Its aim is to provide easily digestible educational exercises, resources, and professional development courses that help individuals and institutions learn about and employ open tools, such as the CC licenses.

Why build a School of Open? Universal access to and participation in research, education, and culture is made possible by openness, but not enough people know what it means or how to take advantage of it. We imagine artists, educators, learners, scientists, archivists, and other creators improving their fields via the use of open tools and materials.

Participate in our upcoming events and find out how you can get involved with the School of Open.

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Elinor Ostrom
Holger Motzkau 2010 / Wikipedia/Wikimedia Commons
CC BY-SA

Honoring Elinor Ostrom

A collective sigh of sadness went around the Creative Commons community last month when we heard that Elinor Ostrom passed away. Elinor is greatly admired for her pioneering studies on the governance of common-pool resources (the Commons) and collective action across the fields of economics, social science, politics and policy.

Her seminal book, Governing the Commons: The Evolution of Institutions for Collective Action, was published in 1990; however, Elinor’s work on common property began in the 1960s. Her studies showed that “ordinary people are capable of creating rules and institutions that allow for the sustainable and equitable management of shared resources,” and resources held in the commons may reduce potential over-use or under-investment, and so enable sustainability. At the time of publication it debunked the conventional thinking that ‘common-pool’ finite resources required ‘top down’ regulation or private ownership to maximize their utility and prevent depletion.

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Please Help Us Free Bassel, Open Source Developer and CC Volunteer

On March 15, 2012, Bassel Khartabil was detained in a wave of arrests in the Mazzeh district of Damascus. Since then, his family has received no official explanation for his detention or information regarding his whereabouts. However, his family has recently learned from previous detainees at the security branch of Kafer Sousa, Damascus, that Bassel is being held at this location.

Bassel Khartabil, a Palestinian-born Syrian, 31, is a respected computer engineer specializing in open source software development, the type of contributions the Internet is built upon. He launched his career ten years ago in Syria, working as a technical director for a number of local companies on cultural projects like restoring Palmyra and Forward Syria Magazine.

Bassel Khartabil has been unjustly detained for nearly four months without trial or any legal charges being brought against him.

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• Last week at the World Open Educational Resources (OER) Congress, UNESCO member states unanimously approved the 2012 Paris OER Declaration. Read Cable’s wrap-up and the full declaration. For more OER news, catch up on the latest in OER from Poland.

• There have been several exciting developments in open data over the past month.

• Governments, academic publishers, and the public are exploring more ways to make research freely accessible.

• You only have six days left to vote for your favorite Why Open Education Matters video.

• CCHits is a website promoting Creative Commons–licensed music. Meet creator Jon Spriggs and find out why he started CCHits.

• Share your favorite sharing stories with Shareable and you could win $1000 in credit for services like Airbnb and Zipcar.

• Creative Commons Korea hosted an art happening in which composers turned family stories into music. Check out the music and read CC Korea’s English-language coverage.

• Attention musicians: it’s time for the fourth annual Free! Music! Contest. Enter your CC-licensed works and celebrate free music.