The University of the Philippines Open University (UPOU) has been officially announced as the next host of the prestigious International Conference for Open and Distance Education (ICDE) World Conference in 2027. The announcement was made during the closing program of the 30th ICDE World Conference held on 10-13 November 2025 in Wellington, New Zealand.
The ICDE World Conference is a biennial gathering of educators, experts, and policymakers on inclusive, scalable, and sustainable education with emphasis on open and distance learning. It serves as a platform to present research trends and innovations while fostering dialogues on policies that shape the future of education worldwide.
With the theme, “Reimagining Education for a Sustainable Future,” the 31st ICDE World Conference (ICDEWC 2027) will be held in Cebu City. It will explore the role of flexible and distance education in a world faced by sustainability challenges.
Key themes include flexible learning pathways, transformative technologies for inclusive learning, reimagining credentials and the future of work, co-creating futures through distance educational governance.
The announcement was highlighted by a promotional video from UPOU. In her subsequent remarks UPOU Chancellor Joane V. Serrano described the next conference as an opportunity for global cooperation.
ICDE World Conference 2027 Teaser (Click to watch)
“ICDEWC 2027 will be a space for reflection and dialogue on how open and distance education intersects with broader issues of sustainability, resilience, workforce transformation, migration, economic displacement, and other social inequities,” she explained. “These are challenges that connect us all, wherever we are in the world.”
Chancellor Serrano invites ICDEWC2025 participants to the ICDE World Conference 2027 in the Philippines.
She extended a warm invitation to the international community, “We at the UP Open University look forward to welcoming you to the Philippines in 2027, — an archipelagic country with more than 7600 islands, over 110 ethnolinguistic groups and around 190 local languages.“
Established in 1938, ICDE is a global network of advocates and institutions from over 90 countries, working toward universal access to quality education and lifelong learning. UPOU has been an active and long-standing member of the council. Visit the ICDE website to register for the ICDE World Conference 2027.
Written by Primo G. Garcia | Edited by Anna Cañas-Llamas | Photo by Roberto Figueroa | Video by Office of Public Affairs, Anna Mhari Duria
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