Professor Dr. Ebba Ossiannilsson wins award for Open Leadership
Prof. Dr. Ebba Ossiannilsson
In October, OE Global announced the 2022 winners of the Open Education Awards for Excellence. Among the winners this year - presented with the award for Open Leadership - was ICDE Board member from Sweden, Prof. Dr. Ebba Ossiannilsson.
The Open Education Awards for Excellence provide annual recognition to outstanding contributions in Open Education; recognizing exemplary leaders, distinctive Open Educational Resources (OER), and Open Practices from around the world. When Prof. Dr. Ossiannilsson received an email to inform her she had won the prize for Open Leadership, she was both honoured and humbled.
“When I first heard I had won, I was thrilled. International recognition such as this means a lot, but it was also a humbling experience. The other nominees are all excellent candidates, and I truly consider us all winners.”
The Open Leadership award is presented to an individual who has demonstrated significant leadership and longstanding involvement with open education. Ebba was commended by the awards committee for her dedication to finding creative ways to overcome adversity with openness, and for demonstrating great national and international leadership.
“For me, good leadership in open education is about facilitating, encouraging, and inspiring the community, but also about equity, inclusion, trust, values, and ethics. I also believe in resilience and agility - with the world changing so rapidly these days, you need to have your eyes open to what is coming around the corner. You also need to believe in and share the values of what you’re working on. This is especially true in the field of open education, which is sometimes subject to questioning and hesitation from those who don’t understand it."
Ossiannilsson is no newcomer to open education, having worked extensively in the field for over 20 years. She currently holds the position of Vice-President at the Swedish Association for Open, Flexible and Distance Learning (SADE), in addition to working as a researcher, quality reviewer, and consultant.
Her work began at Lund University, Sweden in 2000, when she was recruited to work for the university’s Office for Continuing and Distance Education. In the years to come, she would work closely with various international organisations, develop a range of open opportunities, take part in research projects and assignments, and work extensively on ensuring quality in open, flexible and distance learning (OFDL). In 2009, she started on her PhD, and just two and a half years later - in 2012 - her doctoral thesis on quality in open, online education and e-learning was accepted. Today, she is one of the most recognisable figures within the field of open education.
“I’ve always said: hard work and dedication pays off. When you receive appreciation and recognition for your efforts, especially from the international community, it strengthens and inspires you. It makes all the hard work worth it.”
Meet the winners of the OE Global Open Education Awards for Excellence. Image credit: OE Global
For Ebba, working for the advancement of open education contributes to a bigger picture, which goes beyond only education: “Whenever I talk about open education, I always put it into context of the UNESCO Sustainable Development Goals, and the new social contract. Open education is about common goods, and it’s important for individuals, for human rights, social justice, and also for the planet. It’s also closely related to accessibility, quality, equity, and inclusivity. I believe it’s important to have this umbrella context, to truly understand why the work we do in this field is so important.”
In addition to her other work, Ebba is currently the Chair for the ICDE Open Educational Resources Advocacy Committee (OERAC). The committee was also a finalist for an Open Education Award, in the category for Open Collaboration. Although they did not win the category, Ebba insists that being shortlisted was enough of a prize.
“Being shortlisted is a wonderful recognition of the work we have been doing within the OERAC. I brought up the nomination in our monthly committee meeting, and everyone was so honoured, happy and proud. It means a lot to all the representatives who work on this and has inspired us all to keep pushing for global recognition of OER.”