In this publication, following the Active Call 2026, Evaluation Results A and B, we document the necessity of the three distinct yet interrelated funded actions for upgrading KALLIPOS, the open digital Repository of Greek Higher Education: a. the updating of its existing Greek-language Open Educational Resources (OER), b. their translation (into English), and c. the combination of the two.
a. The updating of the OER (textbooks, …) produced a decade ago within the framework of the KALLIPOS Initiative (1st phase, ended in 2015) constitutes an internal-temporal intervention:
Arguments for updating the existing OER
- Scientific validity and long-term sustainability
- Incorporation of topics (such as Generative Artificial Intelligence / GenAI, …) that did not exist at the time of the initial writing
- Updating of learning/teaching materials without changing the textbook
- Preservation and development of Greek scientific terminology
- Usage of Greek data, legislation, and case studies
- Leveraging the potential of feedback after ten years of use
- Restoring technical quality and accessibility
- Reducing the risk of the Repository becoming obsolete as an open digital collection/library
b. Similarly, the translation of the OER created within the framework of the KALLIPOS Initiative (1st phase) and the KALLIPOS+ Project (2nd phase) constitutes an external-spatial intervention:
Arguments for translating the OER (into English, …)
- Access for non-Greek speakers studying in Greece
- A tool for the internationalization of Greek Higher Education Institutions (HEIs)
- Visibility of the Greek scientific perspective in the international literature
- Use in international online courses (MOOCs, SPOCs, COIL)
- Bibliographic discovery and impact indicator
- Presence in next-generation language models
- Utilization by international organizations/bodies (professional, etc.) outside of HEIs
- Contribution to linguistic equity in scientific/scholarly communication
- Alignment with European policies on multilingualism and Open Education / Open Science
c. The coexistence of these two interventions yields benefits that neither delivers on its own:
Arguments for combined updating and translation of the OER
- Double added value: updating and translation
- Scientific updating as a prerequisite for international utilization
- Reinforcement of the Open Access (OA) model (5R principles of openness)
- Benefits for the digital Repository itself (promoting outreach, …)
- Measurable impact indicators
- Better interoperability through bilingual open metadata
- Avoiding scientific obsolescence thanks to “living”, continuously renewed resources
- Pedagogical usefulness for hybrid and international learning environments
- Economic and social added value
- Institutional and strategic importance for HEIs
- Contribution to the establishment of a unified national open knowledge ecosystem
In short, the parallel implementation of updating and translation entails multiple benefits, the main ones being:
- Up-to-date scientific content available in more than one language
- Creation of a “terminology bridge” between the Greek and the international scientific communities
- Establishment of a recognizable standard and “best practices” for the operation of a dynamic (rather than static) bilingual infrastructure
- Ensuring a strategically coordinated presence of domestic academic output in the global education and digital content ecosystem, which now includes Large Language Models (LLMs) and Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG) systems
Further argumentation regarding the value and optimum use of OER, beyond what is already set out in The Open Request to the Ministry of Education, as well as in the funding requests submitted from the Authoring Teams to KALLIPOS+ Help Desk, has also drawn upon additional sources, such as official policy documents from European and international organizations (UNESCO, OECD, EU, EUA, etc.). The reports of these bodies converge on the conclusion that, in the long term, only the methodical and simultaneous implementation of both interventions can act as a catalyst. The reason is that this strategy transforms an OER Repository, such as KALLIPOS, from a simple digital platform for depositing material into a critical infrastructure for the sustainability of scientific/academic content creation in the 21st century.
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Last updated: 02-06-26
Content curation: Stamatina K. Koutsileou, PhD Candidate (Department of Social and Educational Policy, University of Peloponnese), HEAL-Link NTUA.