The garden of recognition is being prepared for seeding the 2026 round of Open Education Awards for Excellence! Here are the timelines, stages in the process, and updates for this year.
The 2026 OEAwards Timeline (tentative)
| May 11 | Call for Nominations opens |
| Jun 19 | Deadline to submit a nomination |
| Jun 29 | Review Committee process commences |
| Aug 3 | Notifications and certificates emailed to all nominees. |
| Aug 17 | Shortlist of finalists announced online |
| Sep 2 | Winners announced in a Live webcast |
Stages in the Awards Process
Get Inspired for the 2026 OEAwards!
Explore the stories of the 284 awardees who have been recognized since 2011 or discover something new by viewing a randomly selected winner. Tune in to 54+ episodes of the OE Global Voices podcast, featuring conversations with previous winners. Hear or read impact stories from past awardees.
Dig Deep – Submit your Nominations!
Nominations for the 2026 OEAwards will open May 11 and is available through June 19.
Tending the Seedlings – The Review Process Commences
After collecting all the seeds of recognition, in July 2026 the Awards Review Committee consisting of previous awardees will be nurturing the garden and identifying the ones that will be shared as the Shortlist of Finalists by mid August All nominees will be notified of their recognition and provided a digital badge / certificate of accomplishment for being nominated.
Sharing and Celebrating the Garden at the end of the Season
Join us in early September for our live streamed announcement of the 2026 Open Education Awards for Excellence winners. A session during the OEGlobal 2026 Conference October 7-9 at MIT will feature winners onsite in Cambridge or those who can join online.
What is happening in 2026?
- The theme continues: Everything Starts With a Seed. In 2025 we introduced the new metaphor of seed planting and gardening, with new visuals that showcase seeds, plants, and gardening. It represents the idea that all open education projects and programs begin with a seed. These seeds are nurtured and cared for, with the hope that they will grow into flourishing plants and trees. By applying this metaphor to the OEAwards (one part of a larger ecosystem of recognition and gratitude), we celebrate the effort and care behind the beauty and diversity of fully grown plants and flowers, which all start from a seed. In this context, your nomination is like that seed.
- Simple Set of Award Categories. This year, we continue with our set of three main categories that still encompass all previous awards. We invite you to be descriptive in the exact name to describe a nomination so if awarded, it can have a specific and custom award name that best fits the nominee
The main categories remain:- Individual Awards (People of Open)
- Open Assets (What We Share)
- Open Practices (How We Share)
- Everyone is recognized. The focus is on wide recognition, so as we did in 2025 we will be not only listing all nominees, but sharing full details about them. All nominees are issued digital certificates to document the recognition.
- The seeds are metaphors but real trees are planted. An outcome of the 2025 OEAwards was that 900 trees were planted worldwide in the names of last year’s winners. We will continue this action in 2026, making this happen through One Tree Planted.
Latest OEAwards News
- This year, in keeping with our theme, we "awarded" all OEAward25 winners trees planted in their names.
- In an exciting OEGlobal Live show on Friday, October 17, a bumper crop of 31 Award Winners was announced. These awards were selected through a rigorous selection process from a […]
Activity in OEG Connect
- A treat for those who are reading posts here in OEG Connect, you are the first to get our early notice that we are in motion to open the “garden” for the 2026 Open Education Awards for Excellence. Last year we set the program in motion with this theme, where the fruits and flowers of […]
- As a close to 2025, celebrate what the seeds of recognition have produced through this year’s Open Education Awards for Excellence. Tisza River – artificially planted forest, floodplain near Algyoe Hungary Wikimedia Commons photo by Takkk shared under a Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 license. Originally published at: From Planting Seeds of Recognition for OEAwards […]
- Originally published at: And the 2025 #OEAward Winners Are … – OEGlobal In an exciting OEGlobal Live show on Friday, October 17, a bumper crop of 31 Award Winners was announced. These awards were selected through a rigorous selection process from a rich field of 193 nominations representing 42 countries. The 2025 Review Committee, consisting […]
- Indeed, everyone has a front row seat in YouTube to see the live streamed announcement of the winners of the 2025 Open Education Awards for Excellence. Join us on OEGLive to see who and what are added to the Hall of Fame gallery of previous award winners. This is the full flowering of this year’s […]
- The 2025 Open Education Awards for Excellence have announced their exciting shortlist of 48 finalists, celebrating visionary individuals, impactful open resources, and inspiring practices that are shaping the future of open education worldwide. Chosen from 193 nominations across 42 countries, these finalists represent the best in growing the global open education movement. Explore their stories, […]
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