Director-General of UNESCO
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) and the Centre for Law and Democracy (CLD), a non-profit corporation based in Canada, have launched a free massive open online course (MOOC) on the right of access to information (ATI). It is open to everyone and provides official certification upon completion.
Estimated to take six hours to complete, the course is an excellent opportunity for anyone who has an appetite to increase or reinforce his/her knowledge on the right of access to information, including public officials, journalists, civil society, students, and any other person interested on this fundamental right.
The objectives of the course are
- To increase participants’ knowledge of international standards and better practice for laws and implementation of ATI.
- To develop participants’ capacity to advocate for better ATI laws and more effective implementation of those laws in their countries.
- To promote better understanding among participants of how ATI benefits citizens and public authorities.
- To foster better capacity on the part of officials to implement ATI effectively and efficiently.
Divided into eight core modules, each of them exploring relevant themes connected to ATI, the course is delivered through different types of activities, such as moderator and expert videos, simple interactive games, reading material, useful resources for further reading and quizzes. It contains videos from some of the world’s most experienced transparency experts.
The structure of the course is as follows:
- Introduction
- Module 1: International Standards
- Module 2: ATI, Development – Including the SDGs – and Other Benefits
- Module 3: Principles of Good ATI Legislation
- Module 4: Proactive Disclosure
- Module 5: Reactive Disclosure
- Module 6: Exceptions
- Module 7: Oversight
- Module 8: Implementation: Steps and Challenges
- Evaluation
Persons interested in the course should Enroll Here.
Further information about the course can be obtained from Helen Darbishire, Executive Director, Access Info Europe, helen@access-info.org, Tel: +34 667 685 319 or Marta Morcuende, Researcher and Campaigner, Access Info Europe, marta@access-info.org, Tel: +34 637 226 609.
